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(Bloomberg) — Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vowed to stay in office and defy the ruling party\u2019s plan to replace her, saying the October parliamentary elections were illegitimate.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere is no legitimate parliament therefore there is no legitimate president or inauguration. This is why I am staying as your president,\u201d Zourabichvili said in televised address on Saturday after a second night of clashes between protesters and police in the capital, Tbilisi.<\/p>\n
The US suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, saying the ruling Georgian Dream party\u2019s \u201cvarious anti-democratic actions\u201d violated the mechanism\u2019s core principles. Georgian Dream\u2019s rejection of possible closer ties with Europe makes the country \u201cmore vulnerable to the Kremlin,\u201d State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Zourabichvili, whose post is largely ceremonial, has encouraged protests against what she called a \u201cRussian special operation\u201d seeking to restore Moscow\u2019s influence and thwarting Georgia\u2019s goal of joining the European Union and NATO.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, she said she\u2019s \u201cthe only independent and legitimate institution remaining in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgian police and special forces cleared protesters and barricades from the main street of Tbilisi after clashes sparked by the ruling party\u2019s announcement this week that it will delay talks on European Union membership until 2028.<\/p>\n
Police said early Saturday that 107 people had been detained. At least 13 reporters have been injured, it said earlier. The total number of people held isn\u2019t clear, according to the Georgian Young Lawyers\u2019 Association. The special investigation service said it has started a probe into law enforcement officers who prevented reporters from doing their jobs.<\/p>\n
While Zourabichvili laid responsibility for the escalation of violence on the leadership of law enforcement forces, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of the ruling party, blamed \u201cradicals and their foreign chiefs\u201d for the clashes at a press conference on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call on foreign entities to cease encouraging violent and unfounded protests that foster anti-European sentiments in Georgian society,\u201d he said. \u201cGeorgia is a state with strong institutions that is steadily advancing on the path to European integration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kobakhidze said a repetition of the Ukrainian Maidan, a reference to protests in Kyiv in 2013 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych declined to sign an association agreement with EU and was toppled by popular protests, wasn\u2019t possible in Georgia.<\/p>\n
The ruling Georgian Dream party this week chose Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and current lawmaker, to be their presidential candidate in the Dec. 14 election to replace pro-Europe Zourabichvili. The president will be chosen by the country\u2019s Electoral College consisting of 300 people, including all members of parliament, under constitutional changes taking effect this year.<\/p>\n
The protesters said they plan fresh demonstrations on Saturday night at new places in Georgian capital.<\/p>\n
Georgian Dream, which was founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won the October parliamentary elections to extend its 12-year rule by four more years, according to the Central Election Commission. Opposition lawmakers who back a pro-European charter are boycotting the new parliament, alleging fraud in the vote.<\/p>\n
Weeks of rallies followed the election, with law enforcement twice breaking up an opposition camp in the center of Tbilisi. Opposition blocs had called on supporters to protest again on Friday.<\/p>\n
Georgia applied to join the EU in 2022, along with Ukraine and Moldova, but hasn\u2019t yet formally agreed to open the years-long process of negotiating membership.<\/p>\n
–With assistance from Yuliya Fedorinova.<\/p>\n
(Updates with US suspending strategic partnership in third paragraph.)<\/p>\n
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