Tbilisi: Georgia will not hold snap parliamentary elections

There will be no new parliamentary elections in Georgia, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a conversation with journalists.

"There will be no repeat parliamentary elections in Georgia",

Irakli Kobakhidze stated.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that the current President Salome Zurabishvili would have to leave her post after her term expires.

"Mrs. Zurabishvili has four Fridays left. She cannot come to terms with this. I understand her emotional state, although on December 29 she will have to leave the residence and give up the building to the legitimately elected president",

Irakli Kobakhidze said.

The politician thanked the employees of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs for correcting mistakes and making detentions more carefully during the last night's protests. He commented on Saturday's action as follows:

"The day before yesterday, everyone saw that there will be no "national Maidan" in Georgia, and yesterday was the beginning of the end of liberal fascism in Georgia",

Irakli Kobakhidze said.

He suggested that foreign instructors might have been involved in the protests and were among those detained by the police in Georgia. This version will be investigated.

On the statement about Georgia's refusal to join the EU, the Georgian Prime Minister clarified that Georgia's European integration was not interrupted or stopped. However, he emphasized that the only thing the authorities will not tolerate is blackmail from European structures.

He also called the suspension of the US-Georgia strategic partnership temporary and said he would discuss it with the new administration of Donald Trump.