Protest rally held in Marneuli violating all recommendations
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, April 24
In Marneuli, where strict quarantine has been declared for a month now (as well as in Bolnisi Municipality), the residents of 5 villages gathered in the village of Shulaveri on 22nd of April blocking the central highway. Carrier trailers were not allowed to move until the end of the assembly. The rally was mainly attended by farmers, demanding the sale of agricultural products at appropriate prices, activity that has been the only source of income for Marneuli residents in a quarantine zone.
Along with the blockade of the road, the residents also threw products at the rally, which were harvested, but due to the closed municipality, they are going bad.
The rally was held in several villages in parallel. The recommendations were practically not followed, most of the protesters did not have any masks or other means of protection against the virus.
The demonstrators were joined by Ahmed Imamkuliev, the head of the Marneuli office of the European Georgia, and Azer Suleymanov, the leader of the Marneuli office of the United National Movement. Law enforcers were also mobilized on the spot.
Even though protesters were chanting ‘Misha, Misha,’ the local opposition says they had no contact with organizing the rally, they just knew that local farmers had trouble cultivating the land and selling the crop and learned about the protest from the social network.
Imamkuliev denied any wrongdoing or participation in the organizing of the event, according to him politics ‘is not happening here.’ “I said from the very first second, you don’t want someone’s political name. Today, we are interested in the people, the harvest and the income of the people,” he explained.
According to Suleymanov, the path must be opened and the state isn’t helping the people, who are working on the land and have bank responsibilities.
Giga Bokeria, European Georgia MP, responded to the rally in Marneuli during the special session of the parliament, noting that the representatives of his party are trying to calm the people. He urged supporters and others to refrain from any action that may violate the rule of law, even ‘if you have grounds for resentment against this government.’ He also addressed other MP’s and gov’t, saying that when the situation is out of control, when people are locked up for weeks and are not allowed to provide for the family, it may become impossible to control.
Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of the parliamentary majority, called the events in Marneuli purposeful.
According to him, the representatives of the branches of the National Movement held a joint rally in Marneuli and he urged Bokeria, to ‘pick up the phone, call Imamkuliev and Suleymanov and take the people back home,’ instead of making general statements in parliament.
Marneuli Mayor Zaur Dargali and Kvemo Kartli Governor Shota Rekhviashvili arrived on the spot as well. They believe the rally has a political connotation.
The governor of Kvemo Kartli told reporters today that the Marneuli residents have no problems and that they took the streets because of the political orders during the peak of the epidemic. He accused locals and opponents of the deal.
Rekhviashvili called the rally inappropriate and untimely. He said the restrictions had had an effect, but that certain forces wanted political speculation.
According to him, during the conversation with the population, who want to sell local products, took place in an absolutely calm environment and the positions were reconciled; it was said that all the accumulated agricultural products will come out easily and the distribution company, which has large spaces in Tbilisi, will receive the mentioned product, then will supply the rest of Georgia.
The governor promises locals that more resources will be mobilized if needed. At the same time, he noted, up to 22,000 families in the region have received various types of assistance. By the end of the day, the governor promised to sell all the crops.
Sozar Subari, Advisor to the PM on Regional Affairs, who has also made an appearance at the rally also commented that certain political forces took advantage of the situation. According to him, since the announcement of the strict quarantine, the population has not had any problems with agricultural work and, conversely, there has been maximum support in this regard. Logistics was also arranged on how to import the goods needed here and how to export agricultural products, from which the rest of Georgia is supplied, and not only Georgia, but also the neighbors, which naturally, is now closed.
As for price dissatisfaction, Subari said that the current situation, the current crisis in the world has changed prices everywhere. He explained that as soon as these borders were closed, products were accumulated and this caused some dissatisfaction. This has been used by certain political forces, which have been clearly seen here and who have spoken not about management, but about elections and political issues.
According to him, the main speculation was about the price, because people said that last year, what they sold for GEL3-4 in the market, say in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, now the company that came here is buying for GEL1. However, Subari says prices are changing everywhere and he has explained this to the rally participants as well.
The agreement has been reached and a distribution machine will go to every village, every family, which will be loaded with products and will take it to any part of Georgia, Tbilisi, Kutaisi.
“Secondly, when a company buys something for GEL1, the price increase is about 5-7 tetri, not a single tetri more. In other words, this price increase cannot even cover the price of exporting from here, because this is the situation today and we all have to work in such a situation,” said Subari.
