SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The political crisis in Georgia is deepening. At stake is whether the former Soviet Republic will find its future back in the Russian orbit or with the European Union. There are mass supports in support of joining the EU. The incumbent president, who backs the protest movement, refuses to step down, saying that she is the last line of defense for Georgia's democracy. This while the new president who is a vocal critic of the West is supposed to be inaugurated tomorrow. The U.S. has announced sanctions against the billionaire businessman who controls the governing party. Robin Forestier-Walker reports from Tbilisi.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Chanting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #1: (Chanting in non-English language).
ROBIN FORESTIER-WALKER: For a month, in cities across Georgia, people have been marching, from teachers to IT sector workers, pensioners to students.
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FORESTIER-WALKER: This crisis began with the country's prime minister announcing on November the 28 that Georgia would suspend further talks with the European Union on membership. Many pro-Western Georgians saw that as an order from Moscow.
LIKA LORDKIPANIDZE: Revolution starts with this, where the system is wrong, where the system is messed up.
FORESTIER-WALKER: Lika Lordkipanidze is 18 years old.
LORDKIPANIDZE: We're not going to attend the university. We're just going to stand here with our people and protect our freedom. Because we're not giving this precious country to Russia.
FORESTIER-WALKER: There was already simmering anger over parliamentary elections in the fall. Evidence suggests the governing Georgian Dream party manipulated the results. Credible observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe noted that numerous issues undermined the public's trust.
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PRESIDENT SALOME ZOURABICHVILI: This is a very peaceful movement in a way, and that is asking only two things. Give me my voice back because of the stolen elections. Give me my future and my European future back, and that is a request for new elections.
FORESTIER-WALKER: Georgia's president, Salome Zourabichvili, has emerged as the opposition's champion, using her position to lobby the West. This was her speaking at the European Parliament on December the 18.
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ZOURABICHVILI: After Russia lost in Syria, should it win in Georgia? After Russia failed to impose itself in Ukraine? Should it win in Georgia?
FORESTIER-WALKER: European countries and the U.S. have started to bite - sanctioning senior officials. And on Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the governing party's billionaire founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, currently, its honorary chairman. He made his fortune in Russia. And this move signals the U.S. recognizing his links to the Kremlin.
REGIS GENTE: What is absolutely essential to understand who is Bidzina Ivanishvili, is to remember that he is an oligarch - a Russian oligarch. And that explained for me the very heart of what's going on now in Georgia.
FORESTIER-WALKER: Journalist Regis Gente is an expert on Russia's elites.
GENTE: This oligarch who is ruling the country literally, can't be free from the Kremlin. When Russia decided to go even ahead with Ukraine, we immediately felt it in Georgia. And the government is nobody without Mr. Ivanishvili, started to, let's say, to cut the ties with the West. And now we're in the final step of that, but it encounters a very strong resistance from the society.
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ZOURABICHVILI: (Non-English language spoken).
FORESTIER-WALKER: Though her powers are largely ceremonial...
(CHEERING)
FORESTIER-WALKER: ...And her term ends this month, President Zourabichvili has said she won't stand down until fresh elections are called. That puts her on a collision course with the government. Unless she bows out gracefully, the prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has warned she faces arrest.
PRIME MINISTER IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE: (Through interpreter) Of course, no serious plan will be presented by the radical opposition, including Salome Zourabichvili. On the 29th, she will have to resign. Let's see how she will continue with her life - free or behind bars.
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FORESTIER-WALKER: What remains uncertain is how the government will quell this unrest and whether the people will stand with their president.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP #2: (Singing in non-English language).
FORESTIER-WALKER: Georgians, who believe their future belongs firmly in Europe, have found their voice.
Robin Forestier-Walker, NPR News, Tbilisi, Georgia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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