The United National Movement (UNM) party has called on other opposition forces to launch consultations for “large-scale” street protest rallies “to put an end” to the incumbent government and to hold early parliamentary elections.

UNM leaders made the announcement at a protest rally which they and their supporters held outside ex-PM Bidzina Ivanishvili’s private, hilltop residence in Tbilisi’s Sololaki neighborhood on Monday evening.

The rally was held in protest against pretrial detention ordered by the Kutaisi City Court for three UNM activists after spat with GD MP during a demonstration held outside the Parliament building in Kutaisi on October 2. The authorities have been accused by the opposition of selective application of justice as in previous similar incidents against UNM MPs perpetrators were either not detained or just fined. 

“All the political forces, which are not in Ivanishvili’s pocket, should get together to demand early elections. Do you agree that it is high time to hold a gathering of larger scale? Do you agree that we should put an end to this man [Ivanishvili]?” UNM’s Giga Bokeria told protesters through a megaphone outside Ivanishvili’s residence on October 5 with the crowd shouting in response: “Yes, yes.”

“We will gain the victory soon,” Bokeria added.

“If we allow Ivanishvili to establish the regime he aspires… we will lose the chance for dozens of years to put the country on the right track. Therefore our decision is firm – we came here to tell this man that he will fail,” Giorgi Gabashvili, a senior UNM lawmaker, said at the rally.

MP Sergo Ratiani, executive secretary of UNM, told supporters at the rally: “We are launching consultations with all the political forces in order to hold large-scale protest rallies, in order to sack this government and to hold early parliamentary elections.”

“We should hold consultations [with other political forces] in order to put an end to this government – that will be just and constitutional path. From today on the United National Movement is launching broad consultations, as well as large-scale protest rallies throughout Georgia,” MP Ratiani said.

UNM held three major street protest rallies in Tbilisi since Georgian Dream coalition came into government – the first one in April, 2013; then in November, 2014 and March, 2015.