Georgia’s pro-Western opposition, who reject the results of last month’s parliamentary elections and demand a fresh round of voting, have announced they and their supporters will continue to occupy the street in front of Tbilisi State University for another 24 hours. 

Late on November 18, protesters were settling in to spend a second night at the encampment on Chavchavadze avenue, which continues to block a key traffic intersection in the Georgian capital. The mood was far from sleepy – demonstrators spent Monday reinforcing the protest site; lining up bins and benches to form additional barricades, hanging banners and EU flags, setting up tents and sleeping mats, stoking bonfires, dancing to live music, and generally adhering to the opposition’s call for a “campaign of civil disobedience”. 

On the evening of November 17, the opposition group Coalition for Change urged the public to join them in staging a continuous protest outside the State University. This move marked a shift away from street rallies, and towards an ongoing display of “peaceful resistance” aimed at overturning the outcome of the October 26 election, in which the opposition claim the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party stole victory via systemic electoral violations and vote manipulation. 

The night of November 18 will be the second night on the street for hundreds of Georgians who are taking part in the encampment, although many fresh faces arrived on Monday to sub in for those who had been out in the cold overnight. 

Hot drinks, snacks, live music, toilets and sleeping equipment have been well organised by the opposition and civil activist forces, restoring some faith amongst supporters who had been beginning to lose hope. According to opposition statements on November 18, they will continue the protest at the State University until their demands to hold a second round of parliamentary elections is met.

In a statement on November 18, Georgia’s Western leaning president, Salome Zourabichvili, stressed the importance of the ongoing protest and doubled down the opposition’s call for new elections as one element of a wider plan to address Georgia’s ongoing political crisis. 

A forensic investigation into the electoral violations reported on October 26 must precede a second round of voting, the president stated, and new elections must happen in parallel with the establishment of a new electoral administration, reforms to the electoral code and the creation of a special court for electoral lawsuits with the involvement of international partners.

Zourabichvili also repeated her declaration that last month’s vote was illegitimate, but that, until the new elections are held, the Georgian Dream government should remain in office to ensure stability throughout the crisis resolution period. Despite the significance of the president’s refusal to recognise the election results, given the weight of her judgement as head of state, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that his government will proceed with convening the parliament as planned on November 25, even without the president’s approval, or indeed the opposition’s presence. Three of Georgia’s four major opposition coalitions have announced they consider the parliament illegitimate and have requested their mandates be revoked.

Thirdly, the Georgian president announced that on November 19 she would submit two appeals to Georgia’s Constitutional Court regarding breaches of voter secrecy and universality, though she admitted she has little faith in the impartiality of the court system.