“We cannot in any way comply with the agenda and the rules proposed by ‘Georgian Dream,’ because what comes next will be something we physically cannot do—they are practically forbidding us from leaving our homes, and of course, we must not obey! Dictatorship is being established step by step, but in this case, the pace is very fast!” – said Gota Chanturia, a member of the movement For Social Democracy and education specialist, commenting on the latest changes related to assemblies and demonstrations.

Chanturia told PalitraNews’ program “Day’s Newsroom” that it is impossible for protests not to exist in the country or for society not to express them.

He added that even if protests were to stop, restrictive laws would continue to be passed, and the situation would become even worse.

“2025 was a year of major repressions. With the latest law, assemblies and demonstrations are practically completely banned. Our right to protest is being taken away. The goal is to make protests disappear. Over the past year, we have seen several changes in this direction—things that never happened in the history of the country’s independence have happened in just one year, which is unprecedented. Along with this, we must not forget financial terror, financial repression, and psychological terror through propaganda. Two days ago, I received another 5,000-lari fine, and in total, it has become absurd because I alone have fines totaling 370,000 lari.

“When standing on a sidewalk becomes punishable, when emigrants are denied the right to vote, soon the right to vote may be restricted for specific groups, then other groups will follow, and so on.

“The situation will not remain static, and the only thing we can do is resist. Over the past year, we have seen many restrictive laws that could not be implemented because society opposed them. Naturally, there will be attempts to destroy protests. Our effort will be to strengthen protests and involve more people. It must be said, the stronger the measures, the more society responds. Resistance has ensured that people who cannot protest every day still have the opportunity to gather every Saturday at 19:00 at the Philharmonic and march from there to Rustaveli Avenue.

“Protests on Rustaveli will continue, and I see no reason why this would change,” – said Gota Chanturia.

Chanturia also commented on planned changes in higher education, calling the law passed by Parliament “the destruction of the education system.”

According to him, the changes will result in fewer students entering state universities, fewer students having access to funding, and many having to pay out of pocket to attend private universities.

“The education system is not detached from the overall political agenda. In fact, it is part of the larger political game. What happens outside reflects on the education system.

“How irresponsible is it to make decisions in such short timeframes that affect hundreds of thousands of people. Imagine a high school graduate who does not know where they can apply, whether they will have funding, whether they can continue studies abroad, who will greet them at the university, or who will teach them. They have no information, yet they are forced to participate in this system, especially since no one asked their opinion: do they want this or not? Is it suitable or not?

“The most ridiculous thing is that after 13 years, it is finally admitted that the education system is in catastrophic condition, both in schools and higher education. Instead of addressing this, they exacerbate inequality, making it even less accessible, especially for socially vulnerable groups. For example, higher education becomes virtually inaccessible to ethnic minorities, who cannot survive in this competition.

“Irakli Kobakhidze and others have openly stated that their goal is to significantly reduce the number of students. At whose expense will they do this? Clearly, at the expense of students with fewer resources who cannot prepare as well, have no access to textbooks, and so on. They are depriving these people of opportunities and turning them into cheap labor.

“The explanatory notes for the law state that no research was conducted, international experience was not studied, and no experts from the field were involved. So logically, one can ask: who understands the education system better—Mzekala Shanidze or Geno Petriashvili? Who understands it better—Mariam Lashki or Simon Janashia, Gia Dvali, Zaal Kokaia, Keti Chanturia?” – concluded Gota Chanturia.