Opposition figure calls for continuous protest in Tbilisi amid hunger strike

Gedevan Popkhadze, a member of the opposition Coalition for Change, on Monday said the ongoing 24-hour protest outside Georgia’s parliament had a “moral and political purpose” and insisted that the public will ultimately prevail.

Popkhadze, who is among a group of demonstrators on hunger strike in front of parliament, drew parallels with the 1989 April protests in Tbilisi, when pro-independence activists staged a hunger strike that preceded a deadly crackdown by Soviet forces.

“Back then, people were not striking in the hope that communist officials would show mercy,” he said. “They believed that Georgia must be independent - and that turned out to be fatal for the regime.”

He argued that today’s authorities would also fail to suppress public will.

“I do not believe that Georgia faces the danger of a collaborative regime winning and the people losing. The people will win in any case - it is a historical inevitability,” Popkhadze said.

“But we must also have our moral share in this common victory. The uninterrupted 24-hour protest on Rustaveli Avenue has its own moral and political significance,” he added.

Popkhadze and several others have been on hunger strike for days. Their demands include the announcement of new parliamentary elections and the release of individuals they refer to as political prisoners.