2007 Georgian demonstrations

The 2007 Georgian demonstrations were a series of anti-government protests that took place across Georgia. The demonstrations peaked on 2 November 2007, when 40,000–50,000 people rallied in downtown Tbilisi. The protests were mostly against allegations of corruption by the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili and also triggered by the detention of Georgian politician Irakli Okruashvili on charges of extortion, money laundering and abuse of office during his tenure as defense minister of the country, being organized by the United National Council, a coalition of ten opposition parties, and financed by the media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili. Demonstrations occurred both in September and November 2007 and were initially largely peaceful. The protests went downhill by 6 November 2007, turning violent the next day when the police, using heavy-handed tactics, including tear gas and water cannons, unblocked Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi's main boulevard, dislodged the protesters from the territory adjoining to the House of Parliament, and prevented the demonstrators from resuming the protests. The government accused the Russian secret services of being involved in an attempted coup d'état and declared a nationwide state of emergency later that day, which lasted until 16 November 2007.

On 8 November 2007, Saakashvili announced a compromise solution to hold an early presidential election for 5 January 2008. He also proposed to hold a referendum in parallel to snap presidential elections about when to hold parliamentary polls – in spring as pushed for by the opposition parties, or in late 2008.

It is said to have been the worst political crisis in Georgia since the Rose Revolution in 2003, which brought Saakashvili's government to power in the first place.