Latest news with #SalomeZurabishvili
Civil.ge
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
Roof Overhang Collapse in Tbilisi Kills Two, Sparks City Hall Backlash
A roof overhang collapsed from a five-story residential building onto an outdoor market near Tbilisi's central Station Square on the evening of July 14, killing two, a man and a woman, and injuring another person, who was hospitalized. The falling concrete also crushed several parked vehicles on the sidewalk. The Interior Ministry has launched a criminal investigation into an alleged breach of construction safety regulations leading to deaths, charges punishable by up to two years of house arrest or two to five years in prison. Emergency crews, including firefighters and police, carried out search-and-rescue operations for five hours, continuing until midnight. Some residents of the building were relocated to hotels. Locals say the building had long shown clear signs of structural weakness. A video footage circulated on social media shows visible damage and rooftop gaps dating back more than a year, fueling backlash against the Tbilisi City Hall. 'This tragic incident is not just a personal tragedy, but part of the systemic problem that is structurally unsound buildings in our capital, for which full responsibility lies with City Hall,' wrote Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, on Facebook. Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who visited the scene along with Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze, acknowledged the building's unsafe condition but cited the city's unsuccessful efforts to reach an agreement with all residents to demolish and rebuild it. 'The offer was made to participate in the replacement program, under which the block would be demolished and a new one constructed,' Kakha Kaladze told the journalists, adding, 'But for this to proceed, 100 percent consent from residents is required, which unfortunately has not been achieved.' Critics, however, dismissed this as an insufficient excuse, noting that the victims were shoppers and passersby whose safety should have been ensured regardless of the building's ownership. 'Just a warning, just a small wooden barrier would have prevented this tragedy,' wrote Maia Kobaidze on social media. Her aunt, a vendor, was one of two people who died in the collapse. Also Read:
Civil.ge
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
Lelo, Gakharia's For Georgia Agree to Cooperate for Local Elections
Opposition parties Lelo/Strong Georgia and For Georgia, which, unlike most of the opposition groups, are running in the upcoming local elections slated for October 4, have agreed to cooperate ahead of the vote, signing a relevant memorandum on July 14. 'We must exclude competition between us,' said Berdia Sichinava of ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party after the signing of the memorandum. 'We will try to agree on common candidates for mayors,' he said, adding that they would aim for 'non-partisan' and 'neutral' figures, or alternatively, joint party nominees. He noted the same approach would apply to majoritarian candidates as well. 'Today, we have agreed on the basic principles of cooperation,' said Irakli Kupradze of Lelo/Strong Georgia. 'This cooperation is exactly the key demand our citizens have,' he added, holding up the memorandum, which he described as a 'compromised' document that he added 'reflects' the citizens' call for unity. Most opposition parties have pledged to boycott the local elections, viewing participation as a betrayal of the resistance movement and opting instead for non-cooperation. In contrast, Lelo and Gakharia's For Georgia say they aim to challenge the ruling Georgian Dream in every possible arena, believing they have a chance to win in major cities, including Tbilisi, where support for the ruling party is relatively weaker than in the regions. Earlier, Aleko Elisashvili, leader of the Citizens' party and member of the Lelo-led coalition, suggested in an interview with Palitranews the possibility of uniting the opposition around Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, as a potential mayoral candidate in Tbilisi. Zurabishvili leans toward supporting a boycott. 'There are no elections!' Salome Zurabishvili said in her July 9 remarks, calling the vote 'only a topic' planted by the Georgian Dream to divide the opposition and pit them against each other. She instead called for greater unity among opposition parties and an expanded protest movement through her Resistance Platform. Lelo/Strong Georgia – now comprising only Lelo and the Citizens' party after Ana Dolidze's For People and Freedom Square left the coalition – announced its decision to run in the elections on July 5. The move prompted three members of the party's political council to resign from leadership, though they remain party members. Lelo leaders Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze are among those currently jailed for refusing to testify before the Tsulukiani Commission, a Georgian Dream parliament's temporary body tasked with investigating the alleged misdemeanor by former officials. For Georgia's leader Giorgi Gakharia, a former Interior Minister and Prime Minister under the Georgian Dream, is currently abroad. Prosecutors are investigating his role in the Chorchana checkpoint case and the 2019 crackdown on the 'Gavrilov's Night' rally, both of which occurred during his tenure as Interior Minister. Also Read:
Civil.ge
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Civil.ge
'Stand Up Georgia': Protesters Hold Ground on Day 214 of Unrest
Crowds gathered on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue on Day 214 of non-stop Georgian resistance to protest continued repression by the Georgian Dream government. Various speakers addressed the rally, including Georgia's fifth president Salome Zurabishvili, activists, students, and family members of detained protesters. The rally comes as authorities intensify crackdown on dissent, jailing several opposition leaders and activists over the past weeks. Dozens remain in jail on criminal charges believed to be politically motivated, and several protesters have been already sentenced to years in prison. 'Unity is the plan,' Zurabishvili told the public, congratulating them on seven months of protests to which 'they could not do anything' and which 'they could not disperse.' Also Read:
JAMnews
27-06-2025
- Politics
- JAMnews
Opinion: Georgian Dream shifted from authoritarianism to dictatorship
Opinion on Georgian Dream Giorgi Badridze, a researcher at the Randel Foundation, argues that the ruling Georgian Dream party has moved from authoritarianism to dictatorship. In his view, the imprisonment of political opponents and the suppression of dissent are hallmark features of a dictatorial regime. Badridze also questioned whether Bidzina Ivanishvili's actions could truly be independent from coordination with Russian oligarchic and political circles. He warned that Georgia is losing international legitimacy — a development that plays into Russia's plan to render the country fully dependent on Moscow. Giorgi Badridze: 'Until now, Bidzina Ivanishvili's government was described as authoritarian. Today, without exaggeration, we can call it a dictatorship. We are witnessing a situation where political opponents are being arrested en masse and all dissent is being suppressed. There is no more textbook definition of a dictatorship than what we are seeing now. No matter how much we say that Russia and Georgia merely share overlapping interests, I find it hard to believe that there isn't also direct coordination. Ivanishvili has well-known ties to Russian oligarchic and political circles — there is no doubt about that. Georgia is undergoing a process of 'Belarusisation', where anti-democratic actions undermine the regime's legitimacy, making it increasingly dependent on Russia. While in the past it could manoeuvre between Russia and the West, today it is forced to side with Russia in international disputes.' I don't believe a long-term, stable dictatorship can be established in Georgia — but at this stage, the actions taken by Ivanishvili's regime fully align with Russia's plan. We are already in a situation where Georgia is losing its international legitimacy because of its government. This directly serves Russia's goal of making Georgia entirely dependent on it. Figures within the Georgian regime are crossing political red lines at such speed that I cannot rule out the possibility that Salome Zurabishvili will also become a target — despite her being a French citizen. Mikheil Saakashvili is a Ukrainian citizen, and he is in prison. One of the opposition's biggest problems is its inability to stick together. Someone even joked: 'They didn't want to be together — but they ended up sitting together.' I wouldn't rule out that these repressions could reach Salome Zurabishvili as well. Whatever her role may have been in the previous political phase, the fact that today's parliamentary elections are no longer recognised by the West is, in part, down to Salome Zurabishvili.' Opinion on Georgian Dream
