Little girls in traditional costume advance in the crowd, where families, the elderly and Orthodox priests mix. Liturgical and polyphonic songs rise in the air. The dancers rush on the roadway, under the eyes of the thousands of Georgians who came to participate, Saturday, May 17, in the “day of the purity of the family” in Tbilisi.
This celebration, launched in 2014 by the Georgian Orthodox Church, voluntarily coincides with the World Day to Combat Homophobia and Transphobia. For the government, conspired by proeuropée demonstrators for 170 consecutive days and engaged in the repression of any form of opposition, it is above all a question of making a demonstration of force, while reaffirming the so -called “traditional” values of Georgia. Prime Minister, Iraqi Kobakhidze, the president, Mikhail Kavelachvili, and the president of the Parliament, Shalva Papuachvili, participated in the march to the Cathedral of Holy Trinity, the largest church in the city, whose construction was funded by the founder of the ruling party, Georgian dream, and strong man, Ivanichvili.
Opponents of the government have chosen to come for few to avoid confrontation but to maintain their presence. The protest movement has been daily since the Prime Minister, on November 28, 2024, of the suspension of the European Union membership process. The power is accused of authoritarian drift, of having stolen the legislative elections of October 2024, and of diverting this former Soviet Republic of the Caucasus from its European trajectory for the benefit of Russia, which occupies 20 % of the territory since the war of 2008.
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Source: Lemonde