The Daily Beat: 30 June

PM Irakli Garibashvili presented his cabinet’s annual report to the Parliament. PM bragged about economic achievements and claimed all was well with the European Union candidacy while denigrating the opposition as “the party of war” who tried to undermine this success. During the Q&A session, PM riled against “LGBT propaganda” and condemned paid surrogacy since children may end up in gay families.

Women’s rights groups called MP Nino Tsilosani (GD) to step down as chair of the gender equality council, quoting her statements that were discriminatory, incited violence, or contradicted the principle of equality. MP Tsilosani shot back that the critics were jealous of her success in meeting EU condition for gender equality.

Scuffles in Kaspi, 63 km West of Tbilisi, where the UNM leader and opposition-minded were harassed apparently by the ruling party activists and local administration representatives.

Sokhumi’s top diplomat, Inal Ardzinba went to Turkey, where he met some diaspora representatives and a minor party chief, pledging allegiance to the Kremlin. Unconfirmed reports say he almost ended up being arrested in Istanbul on a warrant issued by Ukraine. Before returning to his homeland, Ardzinba was the right-hand man to Kremlin’s Vladislav Surkov and helped shape vile Ukraine-related policies.

PM Garibashvili went to the [early] July 4 party at the U.S. embassy and exchanged niceties with outgoing Ambassador Kelly Degnan. He was less nice to President Salome Zurabishvili, as photos showed him pointedly avoiding even looking at her. GD Chair Irakli Kobakhidze said he did not go because U.S. Embassy indicated some ruling party MPs were not welcome.

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