‘Home to Europe’ Demand Resignation of Prime Minister and Government
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Rally ‘Home to Europe’, which started in the evening of July 3, in front of the parliament in Tbilisi, ended in the morning of July 4, at the government administration building. Shota Digmelashvili, one of the organizers of the rally, told a few people who remained on the spot about the end of the gathering.
“At the session of the government today, we don't see the government and Gharibashvili, instead we see many policemen - there were 100 of us, there were 500 policemen. We call you all within the limits of individual responsibility to gather sometimes and disturb the government as much as possible... the government session could not take place today,” he said.
A small group of participants of the mass action held in front of the Parliament of Georgia on July 3 spent the night near the government administration building. They were waiting for the government meeting and the arrival of the government members, shouting and whistling.
The participants of the movement ‘Home to Europe’ demand the resignation of Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and his government because they could not ensure that Georgia receives the status of a candidate for EU membership. The representatives of the popular movement believe that a government of national consensus government should be created, which will fulfill the 12 recommendations of the European Commission in order to obtain the status. The movement demanded the resignation of the government for the first time on June 24, at a mass rally held near the parliament, and gave ‘Georgian Dream’ a deadline until July 3.
The organizers and participants of the protest consider the plan published by ‘Georgian Dream’ on July 1 to fulfill the recommendations of the European Commission a farce. Digmelashvili, said on July 3, at the rally held near the parliament, that the society is old enough not to get cheated by the ruling party. On July 3, non-governmental organizations also presented a plan to fulfill the requirements for the EU membership candidate status.
On June 24, the European Council granted Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates for EU membership with mandatory conditions, and Georgia - the European perspective. To get candidate status, Georgia must implement 12 recommendations by the end of the year. Among them are overcoming political polarization, proper functioning of institutions and their independence, real independence and impartiality of the court, effective investigation of cases of elite corruption, de-oligarchization, free media environment, etc.
Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, submitted its application for EU membership on February 28. Georgia and Moldova did this on March 3.
