The fifth president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, announced the creation of a “platform of resistance” during a mass demonstration in Tbilisi on March 31, the 34^th anniversary of Georgia’s 1991 independence referendum and the 124^th consecutive day of pro-EU protests in the capital.

From a stage in front of the parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue, Zourabichvili told tens of thousands of demonstrators that their ongoing resistance movement against the increasingly authoritarian ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, which has been entirely spontaneous up until this point, now needs to take on a “political format” in parallel with continued street protests, OC Media reported.

The fifth president announced that it was necessary to “create a platform of resistance with participation across the pro-European political spectrum”, with a strong emphasis on “coordination”.

According to Zourabichvili, the platform will be open to all pro-European groups and parties “who are ready to put aside political incompatibilities” and share the two main goals of the protests­ – new, fair parliamentary elections and the release of all prisoners of conscience arrested at prior demonstrations.

“To achieve these goals, the resistance platform agrees to harmonise political positions in order to expose and confront the regime and its actions in a coordinated way, that is, more effectively,” the fifth president informed the listening crowds.

Zourabichvili explained that the platform participants would “gather under the auspices of the president [herself] and would “prepare agreed political positions to be put forward inside and outside the country”.

The fifth president assured the crowds of listening demonstrators that they would be kept fully and immediately informed of the activities of the platform to achieve a joint strategy.

Georgian protesters, Zourabichvili and the pro-Western political opposition accuse GD of rigging the October parliamentary vote and orchestrating Georgia’s recent authoritarian pivot towards Russia at the expense of ties with Europe and the West.

GD’s suspension of EU accession negotiations on November 28 triggered mass spontaneous protests across Georgia, though demonstrators are now battling against a mounting tide of government repressions aimed at crushing the resistance movement into non-existence.

In her speech on March 31 Zourabichvili insisted that “the strength of the protest is not highlighted by the number of people that come out” and highlighted that “standing strong is the right measure”.

The fifth president said the Georgian Dream regime stands on three main pillars: the financial interests of the entourage surrounding GD founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili; Russian propaganda and propagandists, who Zourabichvili claims are attempt to “deceive and subjugate the people”, and the “Russian violent system”.

Several members of the crowd shouted at Zourabichvili during her speech, demanding her opinion on the controversial investigative parliamentary commission GD set up in February and has recently enacted to probe the activities of Georgia’s 2003-12 United National Movement (UNM) government under Mikheil Saakashvili, including its handling of the August 2008 Russian-Georgia War which GD accuses it of provoking.

During her 30-minute speech, the fifth president did not mention either the commission or Saakashvili, who has recently had another 12.5 years tacked onto his existing prison sentence for abuse of power.

The Georgian political opposition failed to rally significant public anger and unrest following the disputed October vote, in which they claim GD stole victory from them.

The creation of the “platform of resistance” suggests opposition politicians may be preparing to take on a more involved role in securing new elections and the release of detainees.

The first meeting of the new “platform” was held on April 1, though notably, some pro-Western opposition parties were absent, having criticised both the idea and Zourabichvili’s speech to demonstrators.

As cited by Netgazeti, the United National Movement called Zourabichvili’s proposed “platform” action plan “illusionary and ceremonial”, citing existing disagreements between the four major opposition bloc which have thus far prevented them from uniting to a form a single front.

Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, mocked Zourabichvili’s speech with a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “words, words, words”. Ahali and Girchi – More Freedom, both parties within the C4C coalition, were absent from the April 1 inaugural session of the resistance platform.

Paata Butchuladze, a civil activist and opera singer, described the fifth president’s speech as a “diversion” and “a very disappointing moment”. He said that everyone on Rustaveli had left feeling dissatisfied after being “told a story” rather than a coherent plan for immediate and concrete action.

“There are people here who no longer have time to endure so much. The country is being lost; the country is already going in a different direction. Here are mothers whose children are in prison. Preparing for new elections - what kind of elections are we talking about when the country is being lost?” the activist said, as quoted by Interpress News.

“We have to decide because no one is doing anything. We are standing, waiting, and four months have already passed,” Butchuladze said, and stressed that a young, “sharp-minded” figure was required to lead the resistance.

Meanwhile, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili described the March 31 rally as “yet another failure for Georgia’s radical opposition”, and accused “UNM and its satellites, under ex-president Zourabichvili” of attempting to frame the demonstrations as a “people’s act”, rather than their own attempt to instigate a revolution and topple the GD government.

At a press conference following the April 1 meeting, Zourabichvili reported that “coordination” had taken place and noted the importance of different parties reconciling positions on the main challenges facing Georgia today.

“The reconciled positions do not exclude that individual parties may subsequently present their visions in a different way, which will not be jointly agreed upon. This is the form of coordination that begins work today," the fifth president stated.

In a post on X after the meeting, Zourabichvili highlighted that she and the other platform participants are “unified in our stance … allowing space for individual perspectives”.