The Daily Beat: 29 February

Parliamentary majority leader Mamuka Mdinaradze announced that the ruling Georgian Dream party is drafting the law that will “protect society from the pseudo-liberal ideology and its inevitable consequences.” MP Mdinaradze is alarmed about the growth rate of “the number of people with non-traditional sexual orientation” across the world and believes that it is the ruling party’s responsibility “to counter the targeted propaganda of the non-traditional way of life.” According to Mdinaradze, the draft law will be prepared and initiated in two weeks.

In response to amendments initiated by MEP Anna Fotyga to two European Parliament resolutions that mention the issue of the pardon of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, Speaker Shalva Papuashvili called on the EU to “distance itself from the slanderous allegations of MEPs.” According to the amendments, the European Parliament “reiterates its calls to release former President Mikheil Saakashvili on humanitarian grounds and encourages President Salome Zurabishvili to use her constitutional right to pardon him, which would contribute to reducing the political polarization in the country.”

At the Chatham House event, President Salome Zurabishvili denied the rumors about her possible leadership of the opposition in the upcoming Parliamentary elections in October. “Some people would like me to take this term [role], and I don’t think it would be a reasonable decision,” said the President. Her statement follows speculations about her possible involvement in the election race as her presidential tenure ends later this year. She also commented on jailed ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, saying he is in prison “for real reasons” and “he is not Navalny.”

Atlantic Council published Digital Forensic Research Lab’s report “Undermining Ukraine: How Russia widened its global information operations in 2023,” examining Russian media campaigns against Ukraine worldwide. Regarding Georgia, the report says that the Georgian Dream-led government expanded its ties with Russia both politically and economically after the invasion in February 2022, exploiting popular fears of the war spreading to Georgia, to cement the government’s pro-Russian stance further.

Ekhokavkaza reported that the Kremlin’s man in charge of occupied Abkhazia’s “foreign relations,” Inal Ardzinba, issued an ultimatum to UNDP, threatening a “timely and adequate response” against the UNDP at a meeting with its program manager, Vardon Hoca, if the UN agency does not refute “the goals of a USAID-funded project” by March 7 at 6:00 p.m. According to Ekhokavkaza, Ardzinba also demanded the publication of the list of Abkhaz information resources funded by UNDP, as well as the objectives and volume of their funding.

At the meeting with the de facto leader of occupied Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, the head of the local occupation administration of the ethnic Georgian-majority Gali district of Abkhazia, Konstantin Pilia voiced concerns about the outflow of people from Gali, citing the lack of prospects for obtaining [Abkhazia] citizenship. Pilia said the outflow began in 2015 due to “documentation-related difficulties.” An estimated 30,000 ethnic Georgians from Gali were deprived of political rights after the Kremlin-backed authorities stripped them of Abkhaz “citizenship” in 2014 and 2017 for fear of ethnic Georgians influencing the election outcome.

On February 29, the employee of the occupied Gali police department, David Kvekveskiri, was arrested in Zugdidi in connection with the brutal murder of Georgian citizen Temur Karbaia, the Interior Ministry confirmed to Civil.ge. Kvekveskiri was detained on charges related to the illegal purchase and storage of firearms. According to Ekho Kavkaza, Kvekveskiri, together with two other police employees of the occupied Gali district, was involved in the severe beating of Karbaia, leading to his death.  

The Data of the Day

Rapid estimates released by the National Statistics Office indicate that Georgia’s estimated real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate amounted to 5.8% for January 2024 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. According to Geostat, construction, financial, and insurance activities, as well as information and communication, have significantly contributed to growth.