“Events in Georgia are following 'a familiar script' - McCain Institute spokesman

Laura Thornton, Director of Global Democracy Programs at the McCain Institute, said that the last bastions of democracy in Georgia are independent media and civil society, but the protest movement has reached a dead end and sanctions against Ivanishvili are not yielding results.

In an interview with Voice of America, she emphasized that the funding of NGOs and media in Georgia is not linked to the interests of foreign governments.

“It is quite obvious that the Georgian Dream is trying to expand the legal possibilities at its disposal to go against demonstrators, civil society and independent media.

...The last bulwarks [of democracy] now are the media and civil society. This is a well-known scenario, and we have seen it in Hungary, for example, not to mention Putin, who has initiated several laws [in Russia] that are very similar to what is happening in Georgia....

As for the protests, I think they are at a standstill right now. The protesters are very strong and determined, but the regime is also strong and resilient.”

Thornton says it's impossible to judge today whether the current protests will escalate into larger protests.

Last week, March 7, marked 100 days since protests began after the Georgian Dream government announced it was suspending EU accession talks. The protests have not stopped, they are taking place daily - but opposition leaders are participating as ordinary participants. A large party protest action has been announced for March 31, timed to coincide with Georgia's Independence Referendum Day. Over the past three months, the ruling party has tightened legislation on assemblies and demonstrations and announced the adoption of a draft law on media regulation, as well as a new version of the “foreign agents” law. Some 50 protesters face serious prison sentences in criminal cases against them, while others are systematically fined for violations of rally rules.

Reprinted from https://www.newsgeorgia.ge/