Pro-EU Rally Calls for PM Garibashvili to Resign

Organizers of the ongoing massive rally outside the Georgian Parliament have called for Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to resign within a week over his government’s failure to secure EU candidate status for the country.

The organizers are calling for a technical interim government of “national accord” that should be tasked to implement the EU’s 12 recommendations for Georgia to receive candidate status.

“Our government neglected the will of the Georgian people, the will of 85% of the public [on EU integration],” Shota Dighmelashvili, leader of the Shame Movement activist group addressed the protesting crowd unveiling their demands.

Dighmelashvili said the will of the Georgian people does not match that of the “oligarch,” referring to Bidzina Ivanishvili, former PM and the governing Georgian Dream party founder, largely seen to be pulling the strings behind politics in Georgia.

“If the government, Bidzina Ivanishvili himself, will not hear the will of the Georgian people, we will be coming here in numbers bigger than today and on June 20, and will show them the rage of the Georgian people they have not seen before.”

Dighmelashvili then announced the next rally for July 3, prior to which activists will turn around the country to attract more people to protest in Tbilisi, the capital. “We will not leave until the oligarchy is dismantled.”

Earlier today, Prime Minister Garibashvili said he has no plans to leave. “I do not plan to [leave], this is totally absurd. On the contrary, our responsibility is to fulfill all of the [EU] conditions that our team chose to take on to fruition.”

He said pro-EU rallies were organized by the opposition that contravened the EU’s recommendation for Georgia to end political polarization. Against this background, the PM stated, “rallies were launched to overthrow the government and make revolution.”

“We know very well about their plans, desires, and dreams, which, of course, will fail, like the rest [of their plans]; but I want to show you that we have not seen any desire or real action on their part [to depolarize].”

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