Ruling Party Says to Protect its Votes ‘by All Means’
Officials from the ruling party have warned that the authorities would not allow blocking work of administrative structures, including of the new parliament.
The opposition said at the protest rally on May 26 that thwarting of the first session of newly elected parliament was its aim in order to then achieve repeat parliamentary elections. “Our key goal is not to let the parliament convene its first session, even at the expense of bursting into the parliament,” Levan Gachechiladze, co-leader of the opposition coalition, said. He called on supporters for a large-scale protest rally on the day when the parliament would be convened to block the building and not allow newly elected MPs inside.
“The work of the administrative structures will not be hindered… and the parliament will be convened as it is envisaged by the constitution,” Pavle Kublashvili, ruling party lawmaker who was re-elected in the new parliament, said on May 26.
Speaking in the late-night political talk show, Primetime, aired by Rustavi 2 TV, he also said: “No one has a right to hinder the work of the parliament.”
“Threat of rebellion will not work with us,” Nugzar Tsiklauri, a political newcomer and newly elected MP from the ruling party, said in the same TV talk show. “Over million voters supported us in these elections and I want to tell them that their choice will be protected by all means. Everyone has a right to protest peacefully, but if anyone crosses the line – if there are cases of bursting into the administrative buildings and restricting freedoms of others – the response will be adequate [by the authorities]. We will not let threats against the choice of the people.”