On 22 March, Georgia’s former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia announced that he is not going to leave politics following his resignation after the arrest of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) leader Nikanor Melia (Caucasus Watch reported).

“Despite a lot of different rumours, I am not going anywhere. Moreover, I will not leave politics. In fact, we are following the plans, our agenda, which will give us the opportunity to share and tell you everything in detail in the near future,” he said in his first media statement since his resignation. 

Following the failed negotiations between the government and the opposition in the country (Caucasus Watch reported), the opposition parties began mobilising their supporters across all Georgian regions in order to stage a mass protest in Tbilisi on 15 May.  The opposition leaders said that they have been forced to make the decision to go into a “state of emergency” after the ruling Georgian Dream party failed negotiations with the opposition and effectively thwarted the mediation of Western partners. 

“We will go to every city, every village, come to every family and convince the population that this fight really makes sense,” said Zaal Udumashvili, one of the leaders of the UNM. “If we cannot agree with the authorities on new parliamentary elections, then we will force them to hold these elections. Ahead is complete protest and disobedience. It will take several months, we need strategic patience,” stated Gigi Ugulava from European Georgia opposition party. 

The chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of “speaking in ultimatums,” highlighting that one of the demands was directly related to the violation of the rule of law, while the other directly contradicted the interests of the state. He also said that in the negotiation process, the opposition has actually been headed by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the leaders could not make decisions on their own.

However, some members of the opposition expressed their readiness to continue the negotiations with the ruling Georgian Dream party. Salome Sadamashvili from the UNM said that there still was a possibility of negotiations if Georgia’s international partners make a similar decision. “The Georgian Dream needs to revise its positions fundamentally. GD has taken positions on all key issues that made the agreement impossible,” she added. “There is no other way out of the crisis other than the agreement. The Strategy Aghmashenebeli considers negotiations with other opposition parties only through mediation and unequivocally rules out direct consultations with the Georgian Dream,” stated Sergo Chikhladze from Strategy Aghmashenebeli.

The members of the Girchi opposition party are even considering entering the parliament. “Our primary task is to have a conversation that we think should have happened during the negotiations and to find out what is the position of the Georgian Dream and what is their vision of the current political processes. We want to spend this week gathering most of the information to make our stand clear to our supporters. Therefore, we will do our best to ensure that these talks, no matter whether this would be separate negotiations between opposition parties and the Georgian Dream, or mediated by diplomats, conclude with us taking up our seats,” said Sandro Rakviashvili from Girchi. 

It was also reported that Georgia’s ambassador to the European Union Natalie Sabanadze announced her resignation after representing Georgia in Brussels for eight years. Without giving the exact reason for her decision Sabanadze said she decided to submit her resignation to Georgia’s Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani last week which he accepted. “Georgia’s European future is a cause worth fighting for. It is a cause in which I believe; it is not merely about the EU membership, but it is about living in freedom and dignity,” she wrote after making her resignation public.