Georgia’s increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian government has made a major miscalculation.
Protests against the fraudulent elections on 26 October were showing signs of dying down. When the Georgian Parliament met — with all the opposition parties boycotting it — only small numbers of demonstrators were there to protest.
But then the country’s prime minister dropped a bombshell on 28 November: Georgia, he said, would abort the efforts to start accession negotiations with the EU until 2028.
If one thing unites nearly all Georgians, it is the belief in a European future. It’s written into the Georgian constitution. And even the ruling party incorporated the EU flag in its election propaganda.
The government announcement ignited a massive wave of protests. Unlike in previous rounds, this time the protests took place all over the country. Students continue to play a leading role. But also large numbers of government workers — including over 250 employees of the ministry of foreign affairs — have spoken out against the government. Several Georgian ambassadors, including the one in Washington, have resigned. Leading businesses, among them the country’s top banks, have joined in condemning the government. Street protests have continued well into the night for several days running. Tens of thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets.
Meanwhile, the ruling party has announced that it will be replacing the country’s elected president, who has been a strong supporter of the pro-democracy protests. She has responded saying that she does not accept the authority of the parliament and will remain at post until a legitimately-elected government returns to power. The stage is now set for dramatic confrontations later this month.
The government is pouring oil on the fires of protest. By Monday, it was reported that some 224 demonstrators had been arrested. The Health Minister admitted that dozens of protestors have been injured. Local clinics began offering free treatment to pro-democracy activists who have been injured by the police.
As the president posted on X, the “majority of the arrested protesters have injuries to their heads and faces , broken face bones, eye sockets, open wounds. [They] have been subjected to systematic beatings between arrest and transport to already overcrowded detention facilities.”
Journalists covering the protests have been singled out for police violence. According to the European Federation of Journalists, they “have been deliberately targeted by security forces, with many reporting that they were beaten and required hospitalization.”
Governments across Europe, as well as the United States, have been forceful in their condemnation of state violence against the pro-democracy protests.
Meanwhile, the UK has been largely silent about all of this, having issued a feeble call on the Georgian government — which ran a fraudulent election — to investigate itself. After four days of mass street protests in the Georgian capital and across the country, as world leaders stepped up their criticism of state violence in the country, the UK has been silent.
As there is no large Georgian community in Britain, pressure is unlikely to come from that quarter. It is up to the left and trade unions to show solidarity with the Georgian people as they take to the streets, challenging an increasingly violent and undemocratic government.
There can be little doubt who will prevail in this struggle — in part because the Georgians have been here before. In November 2003, former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze was clinging on to power in his homeland, where he had previously served as the Communist Party boss. Following fraudulent elections, Georgians turned out in vast numbers demanding change. And they won.
Their peaceful protests are now known as the “Rose Revolution” and every Georgian today must be wondering if they can do it again. They can — but they cannot do it alone. The ruling party in Georgia has Putin on their side. The pro-democracy protestors need the full-throated support of all democratic governments if they are to win again.
The Labour government must speak out — and soon.
This article appears in the current issue of Solidarity.