Georgia’s president says government is ‘illegitimate’

Salome Zourabichvili was inaugurated as Georgia’s first female president in 2018. While her role as head of state may be largely ceremonial, her personal politics aren’t. She’s staunchly pro-Western, sees Georgia’s future as part of the European Union and is keen to see her country move out of Russia’s orbit. That’s put her in direct conflict with the Georgian Dream, the populist pro-Russia party that’s headed Georgia’s majority government since 2016.

Zourabichvili has publicly slammed some of the more contentious pieces of the party’s legislation, refused to sign others into law, and now calls their rule “illegitimate” after disputed elections in October.

European observers on 26 October polling day say they witnessed instances of voter intimidation and bribery at the polls and the opposition, which has subsequently boycotted parliament, claim Russia meddled in the electoral process to ensure the Moscow-sympathetic Georgian Dream would win.

The EU slammed the process and demanded a rerun. In response, Georgian Dream said it was suspending accession talks until at least 2028.

That decision has sparked a wave of unrest across the country which Zourabichvili sees as unprecedented. In an interview with Euronews, she explains more about what’s happening now and, more importantly, what happens next.

Do you think the current Georgian government is legitimate?

Clearly not. Because the elections that led to this parliament and to the government are not legitimate. They are not recognised by anyone. They have not been recognised by the Georgian population, in the first place. They have not been recognised by the political forces in the country, because no opposition party has recognised them as winning these partly rigged elections and nobody has entered the Parliament. So it’s one party, and an illegitimate Parliament.

Maybe more importantly, our Western democratic partners have, until now, not recognised them, and more than one month has gone by. The European Parliament has said that these elections where neither free nor fair and they are calling for new elections as we are calling here — for new elections.

The last, very provocative decision of this illegal, illegitimate government to turn their back on the European Union and turn their front towards Russia is something that has stirred an immense protest movement in the country that is not stopping. Every day there are more people on the streets. And more importantly, there is real dissent growing in the country. In the state institutions, where people are resigning, or protesting, or signing petitions, depending on which institution we are talking about.

But basically, the whole public service is falling apart in the country because people do not accept the decision of the illegitimate government to take an illegitimate direction for this country. The only ones to recognise, to approve, and to congratulate them is President Putin of Russia and the Russian Parliament.

What do you think the European Union can do for Georgia right now?

The signal of not recognising these elections is very important. The resolution of the European Parliament is extremely important. I know there is a statement of the 27 members that is in preparation on this situation. There are measures that are in preparation. What we need is strong support for the new elections. We are not preparing for a revolution. We are preparing the transition to new elections, because that’s the stable way for this country to go forward and to go back to the European path. That’s what the people are demanding on the streets.

They are demanding two things: they want to keep their European future and they want new elections in order to have a stable, legitimate government in this country. I am the only independent institution left in the country that is not ruled by one party and one man. And I am also the president that is by mandated by the Constitution — the president until a new president is inaugurated. And since the new president is to be elected by a parliament and the parliament is illegitimate, the new elected or so-called elected president cannot be inaugurated. And my mandate, hence, stands.

So we are in a transition period. It’s very important that this transition is very stable. People around me, from civil society and from the political parties, are trying with our European partners and with our American partners. Trying to lead this very stable transition.

I know, too, that there is today a statement by the United States. That they are stepping up the strategic partnership with Georgia. That’s a very strong signal also. And that is what the Georgian population is certainly not ready to accept. And that’s what they’re showing on the streets very peacefully.

And what is very important that beyond what I’ve said about the public service being in dissent, there is also the fact that all the cities in Georgia have protests, which in my memory has never happened. It was always Tbilisi that was the centre of everything. Today, all the cities have seen demonstrations. And it’s touching the economy. The business which has always been in this country very loyal to any government and any regime, has seen today very many big businesses expressing their protests because clearly for them to. The European purse is the only one that they want to see for this country.

What is the position of the country’s security forces and the justice system?

The justice system is very interesting, because basically this is one of the main problems of this country with the European Union or these last years was that we do not have an independent justice system.

I have introduced a plea in the Constitutional Court against the reading of the elections on which they have not even met for the time being. But we have to try all the levels. That’s the way, the constitutional way to do things. And there is always hope. But because it could always be that some members of these high courts and at one point understand that the stability of the country is in their hands and the fate of the country.

So we have to try to put pressure on them for security forces and describe the police is on the side of the citizens because it’s a normal police that has been trained and the black guys are serving their own masters. And the ‘robocops’ are a state instrument to which will go where the state will go. So that’s what we have to to watch.

Then there is the army that is very quiet and has to remain quiet, but is very clearly on the side of pro-Western forces because they have been trained, they have been formed, they have been equipped over these past decades. And therefore, together with Americans and with European partners in international missions abroad. So it’s very clear they are suffering a lot when they’re told that suddenly their friends are no longer their friends.

There are some parallels with what is happening now in Georgia and the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine 11 years ago. Do you see any connections?

I think it’s very different because Georgians are not Ukrainians. We have many things in common, because we have been basically confronting the same enemy. But things are very different because the Georgian character is very different and the dissolution of the state institutions we are witnessing now, including the church in which we are hearing dissenting voices, which is unheard of, is something that is very specific. Even in Georgia, we have not seen that earlier.

So we are confronting something very new and we are part of something very new that is happening also geopolitically, I would say, where Russia not winning easily over Ukraine over these past two and a half years is now trying to win over the European Union with electoral war. I would say it’s an electoral war. They have carried this electoral war in Georgia and we are fighting against it with constitutional means.

They’re fighting the same electoral war in Romania. And they have floated in Moldova, except that Moldova was saved by the diaspora. And in our case, we were not allowed to use the votes of our just for our members, which are numerous. So it’s a strategy of Russia. And it’s very important that the European Union understands that it is a strategy, a hybrid strategy to win over countries that do not want to go towards Russia through these maybe more discreet ways. But clearly in Georgia, where we have a long experience of Russia trying to take over this country and have been very resilient to that, we are going to be resilient and ensure that we prevail. The will of the people.

So you’re saying Romania is a more similar case?

But similar because it’s different tricks and different systems. And that’s what shows the systemic approach that is very adapted to each country. But the emergence of these pro-Russian leaders suddenly that nobody expected should be something that our European partners should think about, because that’s the way Russia is trying to keep some of its influence. But we see that Russia is also losing in different places, like in Syria.