(Bloomberg) -- Pro-European Union protests risk escalating in Georgia because authorities are blocking off avenues to political dialog, the country’s president said.
Salome Zourabichvili has encouraged protests against what she called a “Russian special operation” seeking to bolster Moscow’s influence and thwart Georgia’s ambition of joining the European Union and NATO. But on Tuesday, the president suffered a blow when the Constitutional Court rejected challenges she and a group of lawmakers had filed against the results of October’s parliamentary elections.
“When you close one by one all the possibilities, what you are doing in fact is increasing the frustration of the people that are on the streets,” Zourabichvili said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “And everyone knows that increased frustration can then lead to anything.”
Unrest in the Black Sea country started in October when Georgian Dream, the party founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won the elections, which was disputed by the opposition. But it escalated last week with five nights of clashes between demonstrators and police in Tbilisi after the government said it would delay talks on joining the EU.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has blamed “radicals and their foreign chiefs” for the violence, which has sent the lari tumbling. His position has been echoed by officials in Moscow, who have also said the situation is Georgia’s internal affair.
Zourabichvili, though, reiterated her claim of Russian meddling, saying Moscow was making efforts to interfere in Black Sea countries such as Romania and Moldova.
“It is Russia trying to make gains and points over the West,” she said.
Georgian police have detained more than 200 people since the clashes began and used water cannons against the protesters, while demonstrators have built barricades and thrown fireworks.
Zourabichvili, who said that protests are not organized by any party, has nevertheless been a voice for them and used her position to urge for broader political dialog, though she highlighted concerns about the effect of today’s court decision.
“This decision of the Constitutional Court means that they are also closing one by one all the possible doors that would lead to some form of renewed political process,” she said. “So it’s very worrying, because the protests are only getting more and more ample in the capital city, but also in the regions.”
Georgian Dream last week chose Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and current lawmaker, to be their presidential candidate in the Dec. 14 election to replace the pro-Europe Zourabichvili. The president, whose role is largely ceremonial, will be chosen by the country’s Electoral College consisting of 300 people, including all members of parliament, under constitutional changes taking effect this year.
To be sure, Georgian Dream has its own supporters. An exit poll cited by the opposition television company Formula and Mtavari in the October elections that extended its 12-year rule showed that the party received more than 40% of the votes even as state television gave it an immediate victory.
Still, Zourabichvili vowed to remain “voice of the nation” when her mandate expires, highlighting support for the country’s European path.
While reiterating a call for fresh elections, the president said she was prepared to act as a conduit for talks and as a contact point for Georgia’s international partners, who she said had expressed their concerns about recent events.
“I can be a bridge, a relay, in case the authorities want to open some form of dialog with the people who are protesting on the streets when that time and if that time comes,” Zourabichvili said.
--With assistance from Yuliya Fedorinova and Andrey Lemeshko.
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