There was something desperately oppressive that came with being in Tbilisi today.
Perhaps it was the sight of hundreds of police officers, massed together and lurking in packs, waiting for something to happen. Maybe it was the dark clouds that poured rain over the streets.
But most likely it was the sense that this is a city, and a country, that is uncomfortable with itself. That Georgia is a nation in turmoil.
Image: Protests continue in Georgia, where many are convinced their nation is led by imposters
A month after its general election, this is a country where many still seethe, convinced that their votes were negated by corruption and that their nation is now led by imposters.
Georgian Dream may have been announced as the winning party, but it was a victory widely denounced as illegitimate.
The European Union, which Georgia has long wanted to join, has pointedly refused to endorse the result. And so here in Tbilisi, there are two worlds being played out.
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19 Nov: Protesters clash with police in Georgia
In one, inside the towering Soviet-era government building, the MPs of Georgian Dream, along with their billionaire oligarch founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, have convened the new parliament for the first time, endorsed themselves as the leaders of Georgia and declared all to be well with the world.
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And in the other universe, which starts a short stumble away in the square outside the same building, there are opposition politicians denouncing the election as a sham, the government as illegal and the new parliament as unconstitutional.
And around them are thousands of protesters who say their country has been stolen, some of whom think it’s all a Russian coup with Ivanishvili at its centre.
As a firecracker is hurled over a temporary metal barrier, and into the parliament building, I bump into Luka, who has left his job in Paris to become an activist in his home country.
He tells me he’s already been arrested once for protesting, and says he was beaten and thrown into jail. He is unrepentant and full of ire.
“This regime is a dictatorship,” he says. “They have no regard for human life. They have no regard for human decency. They care about money and staying in power.
“The Russian grasp is stronger than we’ve even realised. So this should be a message to everyone in Europe as well, that Russia is not that easy to deal with.”
He says he is proud that the protests have been peaceful, but there is a streak of frustration: “We’re trying to avoid any type of bloodshed but given the reality of what we are facing, it’s becoming more and more clear with every passing day that at some point, we will have to get physical.”
There is a stage in the front of the building, surrounded by an array of booming loudspeakers.
Giorgi Vashadze, leader of the opposition Unity movement and one of the country’s best-known politicians, is telling his audience to keep strong, insisting that they will win in the end.
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Vashadze is loud and forceful from the stage. When we meet a few minutes later, he is quieter and thoughtful. But ask him about the election, about the state of his country’s democracy, and his eyes light up.
“This is a constitutional coup,” he says. “This is completely against the Georgian constitution, against the will of Georgian people.
“This is a Russian special operation against Georgian national interest, and it’s been conducted by Georgian Dream.
“They call themselves the government of Georgia but from today on, we will not call them ‘the government’ anymore.
“We are fighting against Russian interests here in Georgia. So that is why we need support from our Western partners.”
He stops and fixes my gaze. I suspect that he sees our conversation as a way of getting his message out to some Western politicians.
I ask what kind of action he wants to see taken.
“Sanctions, sanctioning of the individuals who are behaving against the constitution and against the law and all different types of like real actions that they can follow.”
It is a call for somebody, somewhere, to do something. And that is the theme that comes across.
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These people, huddled against the downpour, banging the parliament’s wall, whistling and booing, feel as if they have been cheated.
But they also feel ignored and unseen, desperate for help and fearful of the future. In this relentless rain, it is very hard to feel optimistic.
Source : Sky News
