TBILISI, October 2 – Georgia’s United National Movement held a small rally in central Tbilisi on Thursday, demanding the release of former president Mikheil Saakashvili and other jailed party members while calling for further protests.
Several dozen people gathered at an amphitheater in the Rike area for the October 1 event, as reported by Rezonansi. Police were deployed nearby, and Saakashvili’s mother, Giuli Alasania, also attended.
Before the rally, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs twice warned organizers and participants not to enter the area around Rike Concert Hall, where preparations and dismantling work were under way for Tbilisoba 2026. The ministry said access to the area posed safety risks.
UNM leaders used the rally to present their party as the most uncompromising force among Georgia’s opposition.
Party member Ana Tsitlidze (pictured) said UNM was the only opposition party that had not been “sold out” and accused the authorities of spending 14 years trying to destroy Saakashvili, his party and the legacy of the Rose Revolution. She said three UNM leaders and dozens of party members had been jailed within less than a year.
Before the event, Tsitlidze said the October 1 gathering should be the beginning of larger protests across the country.
UNM leader Irakli Pavlenishvili also addressed the crowd, saying Saakashvili had sacrificed his health and life by returning to Georgia. He described UNM as the country’s most principled and patriotic party and said it would eventually return to power.
Saakashvili himself posted on Facebook shortly before the rally, saying that “80% of the people have come to their senses” and that despite his imprisonment he remained more optimistic than ever.
Analyst Gia Abashidze mocked that claim, writing that UNM had fallen to what he described as a 5% political reality while still imagining itself at 80%.
The rally came on the 14th anniversary of Georgian Dream’s 2012 election victory over UNM, with parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili claiming the country has reclaimed its sovereighnty after years of being under undue influence by foreign powers.
