Georgian Protests Continue for Second Day Following Disputed Local Elections

Protests in Georgia continued for a second consecutive day on Sunday, sparked by disputed local election results in which the ruling party claimed an absolute victory.

Demonstrations were held again after thousands of protesters descended on Tbilisi following local elections on Saturday in which Georgian Dream said it had clinched victory in every municipality across the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people in an election boycotted by the two largest opposition blocs, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

The ruling party accused protesters of trying to “overthrow the constitutional order” and blamed Brussels - specifically the EU’s ambassador to Georgia - adding that continued civic gatherings would be treated as an “attempt to overthrow the government”.

On Sunday, without providing evidence, Georgia’s State Security Service said it had discovered a large cache of weapons, ammunition, explosives and a detonator in a forest outside the nation’s capital Tbilisi which it said were intended for “subversive acts” at Saturday’s protest.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kops said in a statement on Sunday that the bloc “firmly rejects and condemns the disinformation regarding the EU’s role in Georgia and denounces the personal attacks against the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia.”

The statement added that Georgia’s election had taken place “amid a period of extensive crackdown on dissent” and urged authorities and civil society against engaging in violence.

Georgia’s pro-Western opposition has been staging protests since October last year, when Georgian Dream won a parliamentary election that its critics say was fraudulent. The party has rejected accusations of vote-rigging.

Once one of the most pro-Western nations to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union, Georgia has had frayed relations with the West since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.