Georgian PM’s Controversial Comments Draw Strong Opposition Backlash
The members of the opposition have reacted to an interview given by Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to the TV company “Imedi” on March 12.
They focused on Georgian Dream’s failure to comply with the 12 recommendations presented by the European Union to qualify for candidate status. Levan Khabeishvili, head of the “National Movement,” remarked, “Irakli Garibashvili reaffirmed yesterday that he and Bidzina Ivanishvili are determined to obstruct our path to EU candidacy. They will undoubtedly barricade the door and take every measure to prevent us from achieving EU status.”
MP Mikheil Daushvili, a member of the “For Georgia” party, stated that Ivanishvili conveyed through Garibashvili’s statement that they have not acknowledged their errors and were intentionally carrying out pro-Russian activities. He emphasized that the Georgian Dream’s objective is not to obtain candidate status, but rather to manipulate the 2024 elections.
The leader of “Strategy Agmashenebeli”, Giorgi Vashadze, condemned Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s remarks and said, “We have seen how brazenly and cowardly Garibashvili refers to young people, how he threatens them. No one is afraid of his threat. I tell him personally, don’t touch any young person, none of the peaceful demonstrators!”
Iago Khvichia, an MP from the political party “Girchi”, criticized the Prime Minister’s assertion that the March 7-9 rally was orchestrated by the opposition with intentions of a revolution: “It seems that they [Georgian Dream] did not understand anything. The opposition has nothing to do with it. The people did not ask the government to change course. It would not be surprising if they talked about revolution, however, I did not see any politician who talked about it”.
The leader of “Girchi- More Freedom,” Zurab Japaridze, said: “The youth won this battle…If the youth’s goal was to change the government, the government would have been changed today.”
In response to Prime Minister Garibashvili’s apprehensive statements about a potential revolution, Giga Bokeria, Chairman of “European Georgia,” said, “We must be prepared for a reaction following the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday, if the Putinist regime dares to carry out the repressions that he had announced.”
Also Read:
- 13/03/2023 – PM Garibashvili Links Tbilisi Protests to “Destructive, Anarchist” Forces
- 10/03/2023 – Majority Drops the Bill on “Foreign Agents” in the Second Reading
- 07/03/2023 – Debates on Draft Laws on Foreign Agents Began at the Parliament’s Plenary Session
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