Georgian opposition demands resignation of Premier and Interior Minister

There is the authorities’ guilt in the July 5-6 events that escalated into clashes in Tbilisi; therefore, those guilty thereof must resign, Roman Gotsiridze, Secretary General of the oppositional “United National Movement” (UNM) Party.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that from July 1 to 5, the LGBT community held the LGBT Week in Tbilisi, which was planned to end with the “March of Dignity” in the city centre. On July 5, LGBT opponents blocked Rustaveli Avenue. Their protest action turned into an attack on journalists, and as a result, 53 journalists were injured.

Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Georgian Interior Minister, failed to appear on July 8 at the parliamentary session, to which he was invited by MPs in order to find out the details of the police work on July 5. As Vakhtang Gomelauri himself told reporters, on the same day he had an appointment with the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili.

Opposition leaders have demanded the resignation of the Interior Minister and the Prime Minister. The authorities are to blame for the July 5-6 events in Tbilisi; therefore, the Prime Minister, the Government and the Interior Minister must resign, Roman Gotsiridze has stated. The network circulates the footage of how the police communicate with activists of radical circles who attacked journalists, he has explained.

"The Prime Minister must immediately resign, and then the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) must follow him. These people are guilty," the “InterPressNews” Agency has quoted Roman Gotsiridze as saying.

However, Vakhtang Gomelauri categorically refused to resign. "Of course, I condemn and regret what happened, but I want to emphasize that policemen did everything they could," the “InterPressNews” quoted the Minister as saying.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 9, 2021 at 06:30 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.