Government Officials Slam UNM as They Mark 16th Anniversary of 2008 War

On August 8 Government officials, representatives of executive and legislative bodies, and the diplomatic corps representatives gathered at the Mukhatgverdi cemetery of the brothers-in-arms to mark the 16th anniversary of the August 2008 war.

Speaking to the media at the cemetery, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that “today we pay tribute to the heroes who died in the August war. We all remember the most tragic days, but these days also fill us with pride, because of the great heroism of our military, and once again, of course, we must honor them. They had a dream, it was the territorial integrity of Georgia, and I am sure that their heroism will not pass without a trace, the territory of Georgia will definitely be restored, it will be restored in a peaceful way, and the dream of our heroes will come true.”

He also faced questions from journalists around the controversy on the start date of the August war. The Prime Minister said that the opposition had been commemorating the day on August 8 until they changed their mind, and accused the opposition of “baseless speculations.”

Among others, he also talked about the potential investigation into then ruling UNM party’s role in the August war following the upcoming elections, which was announced on August 7 by Georgian Dream’s Political Council. He reiterated that Georgian Dream’s narrative and added that “the legal form can be different, it can be an appeal, for example, to the Prosecutor’s Office, it can be a Parliamentary investigative commission, it can be an appeal to the Constitutional Court, all instruments can be used. The public will be informed about all this, but the main thing is that the crime of 2008, committed by the Saakashvili regime, the [United] National Movement regime, should be fully investigated.”

Among other issues, the Prime Minister has also claimed that Georgia enjoys “fundamental improvement[s]” in “all dimensions” including democracy, human rights and economy.

Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili too visited the cemetery, commemorating the victims of the war. “We must not forget the fragility of peace and, above all, the responsibility of the political leadership to prevent a war in the country. This is what the Georgian Dream has been doing for the last 12 years,” he told the media.

He also took an opportunity to slam the United National Movement, echoing the Georgian Dream’s August 7 statement narrative. He accused the UNM of “speculating” about the war and called it an “scatterbrained” and “treacherous” organization.

“Nothing diminishes the crime of Russia, the crime of aggression, occupation and war crime. But we must also ask our Georgians, who were in power at the time, what they did or did not do,” Papuashvili told media.

He claimed that if a political force as “patriotic” as Georgian Dream had been in power in 2008, the war between Russia and Georgia would not have happened, and if the UNM had been in power in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, “2008 would have been repeated.”

Speaker Papuashvili also criticized the EU for avoiding the term “occupation”. “Unfortunately, until now we have not managed to get the EU to say the [word] occupation. We see that in the recent statements, ‘self-proclaimed occupied territories’ are mentioned, so there is still an addition [to the word ‘occupied’],” he said, crediting the role of the Georgian parliament in the country’s efforts to achieve the recognition of the occupation. “During these years, the European Union did not even call this phenomenon an occupation…” he said.

Answering media questions, he said that accusations regarding Georgia’s democratic backsliding are “untrue and fake” and claimed the GD will win the constitutional majority in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.

Answering a question about the International Court of Arbitration’s denial of the Anaklia Development Consortium’s claim against the Government of Georgia, Speaker Papuashvili said it has been confirmed that “we are dealing with hoaxers.”

Asked why Georgia did not participate in the recent prisoner swap involving Russia and the Western countries, Speaker Papuashvili said that “Nobody asked us anything, nobody informed us. You know that it turned out to be a surprise for many countries, including Ukraine.”

He was also asked about the case of the critical Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov. He said that the decision on extradition belongs to the independent court and it is not okay to interfere with it.

“We paid tribute to the fallen heroes. Georgia’s strength and firmness stands on the heroism and self-sacrifice of the people like these…,” Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani said. “Everyone, the whole society, saw the criminal nature of the [United] National Movement under their rule. We saw that they could not avoid the escalation, the war that happened in August…Even today, if we had such a situation that the “National Movement” was in power, we would practically be engulfed in the flames of war, but today there is a responsible political force in power, which does everything to protect the interests of Georgia, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to ensure peace…,” he added.

Also Read:

• 07/08/2024 – Ruling Party Accuses UNM of Treason in 2008 War, Threatens Legal Consequences After Elections

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