“On May 26, everything will go ahead as planned,” the “Opposition Alliance” responded to the authorities. The Tbilisi City Hall had sent the organizers of the protest scheduled for the 26th a notification stating that it would not permit either the installation of a stage on Rustaveli Avenue or the closure of the road to traffic.
One of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” Nika Gvaramia, stated that on the day of the protest, a march will take place from the Vake district to Rustaveli Avenue, where a large rally is planned in front of the Georgian parliament building.
“We are not going to give up exercising our rights. The fact that some ‘Kots’ (a representative of ‘Georgian Dream’!) sends us restrictions he made up will not stop us under any circumstances. <…>
State Department representatives will be in Georgia during those very days. And what is happening now is also being done so that they can see it. In addition, if I am not mistaken, Rubio will be in Yerevan during these days, on the exact dates we are talking about, and will not visit Georgia because of ‘Georgian Dream’ and the regime. Therefore, in every sense, we must thwart the anti-Western course of ‘Dream’,” Gvaramia said.
Another member of the “Coalition for Change,” Tengo Tevzadze, attributed Tbilisi City Hall’s response to fear on the part of the authorities—the politician believes that “Georgian Dream” is currently afraid of a mass turnout of people onto the streets:
“The May 26 rally was announced on March 31. If they were going to do something like this, they should have said so in advance. Now they are scared, anxious, and understand that a lot of people will come out. If they intend to ban or restrict the rally, we will not comply. This march will definitely take place.”
