Georgian police fire water cannon at protesters who say polls were rigged

[webfact]

Georgian police fire water cannon at protesters who say polls were rigged

By Margarita Antidze

 

A man gestures in front of riot police during an opposition rally against the results of a parliamentary election, outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) building in Tbilisi, Georgia November 8, 2020. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

 

TBILISI (Reuters) - Dozens were injured when Georgian police fired water cannon against hundreds of protesters who gathered outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Sunday to support an opposition call for a rerun of Oct. 31 parliamentary elections which they say were rigged.

 

Some witnesses and TV channels reported that police also used tear gas, but police denied it.

 

The demonstrators had marched to the CEC building from the capital's main Rustaveli avenue, where thousands of people held a peaceful rally.

 

Police said protesters tried to storm the CEC building.

 

"As the protesters used violent methods and did not obey the instructions of the police, the Interior Ministry used proportional force within its powers," the ministry said in a statement.

 

Georgia's ombudsman and public rights defender, Nino Lomjaria, criticised the use of water cannon.

 

"Using water cannon in cold weather and against peaceful protesters was not justified," she told reporters.

 

Opposition leaders called on supporters to leave the scene after many protesters became soaked or injured, but said the next protest would be held on Monday.

 

"Our fight will be till the end. We are not scared of anything," Nika Melia, an opposition leader, told reporters.

 

The opposition is demanding the resignation of the CEC chief, Tamar Zhvania, and the calling of fresh elections.

 

According to official results, the ruling Georgian Dream party won 48.23% of the vote, with the largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), taking 27.18%.

 

After the result gave the ruling party the right to form a government, eight opposition parties, including the UNM, said they would boycott parliament.

 

The opposition accuses the ruling party and its supporters of vote buying, making threats against voters and observers and of violations during the counting process. Georgian Dream leaders have denied the accusations.

 

Protesters moved to the CEC building after the 8 p.m. deadline to dismiss the electoral commission head and to start talks on a fresh vote passed without a response from the government.

 

The economy of the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The government said on Saturday it would impose an overnight curfew from Monday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in the largest cities due to a sharp rise in cases since early September.

 

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Mike Harrison, Nick Macfie and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-09

 

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[douglasspade]

Expected more...

 

[Dumbastheycome]

5 minutes ago, douglasspade said:

Expected more...

 

Which Georgia ?

[LomSak27]

10 minutes ago, douglasspade said:

Expected more...

 

As reports have Vlad Putin sick, perhaps a terminal illness. The US doesn't have to do anything.

 

Now if  the  polonium & novichok teams are dispatched, different story natch. 

[nobodysfriend]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

"Our fight will be till the end. We are not scared of anything," Nika Melia, an opposition leader, told reporters.

 That is what Trump left . A deeply divided country . He did not ' make America Great again ' , that's for sure .

What worries me is that he got nearly 50% of the votes .

70 million people voted for him , 74 million against him . There is potential for a big conflict .

Biden needs to calm down the Trump supporters by making concessions .

Trump himself will probably put more ' oil in the fire ' as that is his proven style ...

[JCauto]

Uh, people, two things.

1. Georgia is not just a state in the United States, but is a sovereign country (formerly part of the USSR).

2. This protest was located where the story is located - Tbilisi. That's not just North of Florida, y'all.

[douglasspade]

1 hour ago, JCauto said:

Georgia is not just a state in the United States

That is correct. Post #1 was not aimed at the US Georgia, but at the US as a whole as I expected some action of Trump supporters to act out their disapproval like the guys in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Hence I 'expected more' from the US.

 

I can see the post may have triggered some confusion. Sorry my bad.

[Dumbastheycome]

2 hours ago, douglasspade said:

That is correct. Post #1 was not aimed at the US Georgia, but at the US as a whole as I expected some action of Trump supporters to act out their disapproval like the guys in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Hence I 'expected more' from the US.

 

I can see the post may have triggered some confusion. Sorry my bad.

Acknowledged. . In either location it could  have  been  more .

[Scott]

Post with a trolling meme has been removed.

 

[Jingthing]

Headline probably should have clarified which Georgia.