Salome Zurabishvili, the fifth president of Georgia, announced today, December 29, that she will voluntarily leave the presidential palace.
This was reported by the publication Echo of the Caucasus.
Six years ago I took the oath of office to the Constitution, but even more so to the country and to you. That’s why I’m here today, and this loyalty will not change under any circumstances – whether I’m in the palace or outside it,” she emphasized in an address to citizens gathered near the Orbeliani Palace.
I will leave here with you and I will stay with you. I take with me legitimacy, the flag and your trust,” added Zurabishvili.
Zarubashvili also called the inauguration of the new President Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was elected by deputies in parliament, a “parody” and called on citizens and opposition political forces to be prepared for early parliamentary elections.
“I will work to create conditions for the elections together with everyone involved in this matter so that very soon, in a few days, we can draw up a document along with the request for elections,” she noted.
Also today, Kavelashvili’s inauguration ceremony took place in the Georgian Parliament building.
He took the presidential oath, as provided for by the Constitution of Georgia, and then addressed the crowd. In total, the ceremony lasted about half an hour. It is noted that diplomats accredited in Georgia were not invited to the inauguration – the reason given was “lack of seats in the meeting room.”
Meanwhile, the main opposition parties in Georgia called on the international community not to recognize the legitimacy of the parliament, government and president of the Georgian Dream.
“Coalition for Change”, “Strong Georgia”, “Unity – National Movement” and “Khukhar for Georgia” issued a joint appeal. In it, they repeated that they consider the results of the parliamentary elections on October 26 to be falsified and not reflecting the will of the Georgian people.
We urge you to refrain from recognizing the self-proclaimed Georgian Dream regime as the legitimate government of Georgia; to refrain from recognizing, in any form, the legitimacy of the parliament that met on November 25, the president and the ministers approved by this self-proclaimed parliament,” the appeal says.
The international community is asked to refer to the Georgian Dream as “a self-proclaimed regime that has usurped the will of the people of Georgia.” And the only legitimate representative of the Georgian authorities is to recognize the current President Salome Zurabishvili.
Source: “Echo of the Caucasus”
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I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.