Nikoloz Laliashvili, director-general of pro-government Imedi TV, the largest broadcaster, said on June 3 the resignation of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia just ahead of opposition leader Nika Melia’s detention, “undoubtedly served the interests of the United National Movement.”
The statement comes after Gakharia accused Imedi TV during his May 31 media roundtable of having a “politically motivated” editorial policy. The ex-PM then criticized Imedi TV and PosTV, both pro-government channels, for not attending his media roundtable, as well as Imedi TV for not extensively covering his For Georgia party’s constituent congress.
Dubbing the former Prime Minister’s allegation “a baseless attack,” Laliashvili recalled the crackdown on Imedi TV under the UNM government in 2007, and underscored that “the aim of Imedi’s editorial policy is to oppose the political resuscitation of anti-democratic forces.”
The Imedi TV director-general said they did not consider the For Georgia party founding “an event of special significance,” while also arguing that the media roundtables should be exclusively used to interview high-ranking officials, “which is no longer [the case for] Gakharia.”
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