Georgian police on Saturday fired tear gas at anti-government protesters who tried to enter the presidential palace, as tens of thousands rallied on local elections day after the opposition urged a “last chance” protest to save democracy.”

The ruling, populist Georgian Dream party is facing its first electoral test since a disputed parliamentary poll a year ago plunged the Black Sea nation into turmoil and froze prospects for closer integration with the European Union.

Ahead of the demonstration, authorities pledged a tough response to those it cast as seeking “revolution”.

Waving Georgian and EU flags, tens of thousands flooded Tbilisi’s Freedom Square for what organisers dubbed a “national assembly” seeking a peaceful transfer of power from the ruling Georgian Dream party, an AFP repo

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