Signs of a crisis in Georgia emerged on June 20, when Georgian
citizens watched how lawmaker from Russian Duma - Sergei Gavrilov,
was invited by the Government of Georgia to the international
Orthodoxy conference in Tbilisi.
Gavrilov sat on the chair of the Speaker of Georgian Parliament and
the protest started right outside the Parliament Hall, and many
people gathered in front of the Parliament that evening.
Police and riot police blocked all entrances to parliament. The
rally was attended by political leaders of opposition parties,
including Shalva Natelashvili, leader of the Georgian Labor Party.
Later, the people wanted to enter the parliament yard, and the riot
police started shooting in the direction of the people. More than
250 people were injured, 2 lost their eyes. The Prosecutor's Office
found no one as a victim. Police have arrested dozens of young
leaders and two political leaders, MP Nika Melia on probation,
while Irakli Okruashvili is in jail, accused of state coup by the
authorities, which, based on the facts, is out of the question
After that, youth movements held rallies in front of parliament for
almost two months, demanding the resignation of Interior Minister
Giorgi Gakharia. June 20 was called "Gavrilov's Night".
De facto Georgian leader Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the
Georgian Dream party, has offered the country to switch to an
electoral-proportional system that has been demanded by the Labor
Party for years. This offer has really slowed the protest, as there
has been a chance and hope for a change in oligarchic rule. A
proportional electoral system, with zero barriers, could have some
political power in the next parliament, create a coalition
government and end a one-party government that did nothing good for
the country. In October, Giorgi Gakharia became the prime minister,
instead of removing him from office and in November government
refused to change the electoral system. They blamed their
majoritarian lawmakers for blocking the bill. „If the country goes
to a proportional electoral system, the Georgian Dream loses the
elections, they know it and that's why they are blocking this
bill.“ – Shalva Natelashvili, leader of Georgian Labour Party said
after the bill failure.