PM Kobakhidze: “Radical Opposition” Leaders at Risk of Attack

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned today, September 4, that “leaders of the radical opposition” are at risk of attacks which the “collective UNM” and its patrons could use to disrupt the electoral environment and the government. At a briefing at the ruling party headquarters, PM Irakli Kobakhidze alleged a larger plan by the “radical opposition” to disrupt the country after the elections, which he warned would be met with the full force of the law.

The Prime Minister began by saying that the pre-election period is proceeding in a “peaceful environment” and expressed hope that it will remain so. However, he said, “We have a negative expectation regarding the future activities of the radical opposition” and spoke of several factors why the ruling party claims this.

First, he repeated the claim that the ruling party’s support is around 60 percent, as the GD-affiliated controversial polls have been insisting for months. Kobakhize said that “the radical opposition knows this very well” and is therefore “less interested in maintaining a peaceful electoral environment.”

Second, Kobakhidze recalled the “experience of all previous elections,” when “the collective UNM, without exception, always tries to disrupt the electoral environment,” adding that “”we have no expectation that these elections will be an exception in this respect.”

Third, Kobakhidze reiterated the GD-style portraying of the upcoming elections as a referendum in which “it will be decided whether the War Party will be able to open a second front in Georgia or whether the country will maintain peace.” He claimed that the stakes are high and therefore the risks are seriously increased. 

Justifying the extraordinary security measures for GD honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili, Kobakhidze recalled the assassination attempts on Rober Fico of Slovakia and Donald Trump of the United States. Kobakhidze added: “You also remember the open threat they conveyed to us through the words of one of the European Commissioners.” He mentioned that the Georgian State Security Service is investigating the alleged assassination attempt on GD Honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili. 

“Taking all this into account, our political team is taking special measures to ensure the safety of the party’s honorary chairman, who is the main guarantor of peace in Georgia,” Kobakhidze said, noting that due to these security concerns, Bidzina Ivanishvili is addressing his supporters from behind bulletproof glass during the pre-election tour. 

The fact that Bidzina Ivanishvili carries a “bulletproof aquarium” around Georgia and cannot address his supporters without it because of a frenzied fear of some “global war party prowess”, has become a subject of ridicule and inspired many jokes and memes among opposition-leaning citizens and media. The opposition pointed out that GD is so unsure of its own popularity that its leader has to speak to the alleged GD supporters through bulletproof glass. Kobakhidze ironically lamented at a briefing that the bulletproof glass had become “a matter of special concern for the radical opposition.”

PM Kobakhidze said that in addition to the GD’s Honorary Chairman, “the leaders of the radical opposition are also at risk of attack” adding that among those at risk are “especially those politicians the attack on whom can be most effectively used by the collective UNM and its protectors to discredit the electoral process and the government” and “cause social unrest.” He warned everyone that “any such attempts will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

At the end of the briefing, PM Kobakhidze said that “it is clear that the radical opposition has no hope of winning the elections” and therefore “is preparing to disrupt the situation after the elections”. He noted that the opposition is not considering the scenario in which the ruling party remains in office and is only talking about how the ruling party will rig the elections.

“It is quite clear that they will once again not recognize the results of the elections, will try to attack the state institutions and to destabilize the country, which, in their estimation, must result in changing the government against the will of the people and fulfilling the task of the radical opposition to open a second front in Georgia”. He reiterated that any attempt to disrupt the situation either before or after the elections will be punished to the fullest rigor of the law. 

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