PM Garibashvili Criticizes Participants of March 7-9 Rallies and the Opposition, Talks Again of “Second Front”

On April 3, at the meeting, of the Cabinet of Ministers Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili discussed the economic growth of Georgia, the protest rallies of March 7-9 and the case of Lazare Grigoriadis, who was arrested on March 29 for allegedly throwing a so-called “Molotov Cocktail” at a police officer.

After talking at length about the economic growth, inflation reduction, and future infrastructure projects, he reiterated the significance of peace and stability in sustaining the country’s economic growth and pointed out the global challenges faced by the world, specifically the ongoing war in Ukraine that has devastated over 20% of the country and “turned it into a shooting range”. Garibashvili noted that the violence the has resulted in the destruction of Ukrainian cities, villages, and regions and “nobody can stop this”. He once again highlighted that the “Ukrainization” plan of the enemies of Georgia to “turn the country into a second shooting range, has failed”.

He continued his speech by addressing the arrest of Lazare Grigoriadis. Garibashvili called him an anarchist who “aimed at burning a policeman alive” stating: “…we will not forgive anyone for this, this is unacceptable, a red line on which we will not compromise. Also.. the public saw that the plan was much more complicated, their [Anarchists] plan was to sow constant chaos, of course the ultimate goal was to destabilize our country, to change the government by violent means, which… no one has succeeded in and will not succeed in.” The Prime Minister emphasized praised the police for their strength and wisdom in maintaining order while protecting the state.

In his address, Irakli Garibashvili tied the mentioned anarchist forces to the political opposition, describing them as “degraded extremist opposition” and accusing them of opposing economic growth, peace, and stability in the country. He highlighted the government’s responsibility in upholding these values and asserted that it will not compromise on these principles. He stressed that such actions are unacceptable and run counter to the national interests of the country and its people. “All those accused and proven to be involved in attacks on the police must be punished,” he said.

Garibashvili also drew a parallel between the recent events in the country and the attack on the Capitol in the United States of America, stressing that four people were killed on the spot during the attack on the Congress building and many were imprisoned for decades for the offence. “It turns out that it is the norm for us, that we let these anarchists into the parliament building, it turns out that it is the norm that they open fire on the police with “Molotov cocktails” and the police should not act, i.e. we should not arrest anyone, we should not punish anyone and allow these anarchists and sowers of chaos, the enemies of the country, to bring chaos to the country,” – he stated.

Furthermore, Garibashvili stressed that “the police carried out the event [March 7-9 rallies] in such a clean way, nobody was really hurt, we approached it with maximum caution and … today they tell us that if some anarchist throws a “Molotov cocktail”, … and throw[s] stones at the police, then apparently we should turn a blind eye. Of course, this will not happen, and I repeat, the law will be enforced against everyone.”

Also Read:

• 13/03/2023 – PM Garibashvili Links Tbilisi Protests to “Destructive, Anarchist” Forces
• 24/03/2023 – PM Again Talks “Second Front” and Criticizes the Opposition
• 11/02/2023 – PM Speaks of Attempts ‘to Open Second Front’, Slams UNM

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