A public movement, Defend Georgia, was established to support a group of opposition parties’ cause of achieving early presidential elections.

Levan Gachechiladze, an individual opposition politician and one of the key figures behind the protest rallies, which were launched on April 9, is among the initiators of the movement, which describes itself as “a new pro-democracy campaign group”. Other initiators are pro-opposition individuals, which have been engaged in the recent protests but not directly affiliated with any of the political party, including some actors, writers and artists. Writer Chabua Amirejibi; theater director Robert Sturua; film director Revaz Chkheidze; poet David Magradze are among them.

“Our new group, Defend Georgia, will work within the constitution and the law to oppose this autocratic regime. It will demonstrate to Georgia’s democratic allies, such as the United States and Europe, the readiness of the Georgian people to become part of the civilised world,” Levan Gachechiladze said in a written statement.