Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili vowed to stay in office and defy the ruling party¡¯s plan to replace her, saying the October parliamentary elections were illegitimate.
¡°There is no legitimate parliament therefore there is no legitimate president or inauguration. This is why I am staying as your president,¡± Zourabichvili said in televised address on Saturday after a second night of clashes between protesters and police in the capital, Tbilisi.
The U.S. suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, saying the ruling Georgian Dream party¡¯s ¡°various anti-democratic actions¡± violated the mechanism¡¯s core principles. Georgian Dream¡¯s rejection of possible closer ties with Europe makes the country ¡°more vulnerable to the Kremlin,¡± State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
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