PM Garibashvili: Opposition can either listen to our foreign partners and take up their mandates or continue their marginal actions

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated earlier that the country’s opposition bloc has only two choices – listen to Georgia’s partners in the EU and the US and take up their seats in the Parliament or continue their destructive actions. He added that recently, both the EU and the US officials reiterated that the October 2020 Parliamentary Elections were “free and competitive.” Garibashvili added that the reason why the opposition scheduled a large-scale rally to take place in two months is because it lacks support from people.

The US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan, in her interview with TV Pirveli, expressed her hope that all parties in Georgia will have enough political will to reach a compromise. Ambassador Degnan also participated in the last week’s negotiations between the ruling party and the opposing bloc, mediated by the EU specially appointed representative, Christian Danielsson:

“Although the parties could not come to a compromise, they spared no efforts in trying to do that. I am still very optimistic about the parties having enough political will to come to a brave compromise. I fully support an immediate resolution of the crisis, because I believe that Georgia is now faced with far more serious problems that need to be addressed. Nevertheless, we fully recognize the fact that the Georgian society is divided at the moment, and the United States reiterates that the only appropriate place for conflict resolution is the country’s Parliament. Members of the Parliament have an opportunity to discuss issues and adopt legislation for the important reforms that Georgia needs so much at this stage of the country’s democratic development. A parliament almost exclusively represented by a single political party is not healthy, and it is not what the Georgian people voted for in October”, Ambassador Degnan said.

Yesterday, one of the leaders of the opposition Lelo party, Mamuka Khazaradze said that the country is desperate for a “restart” and that the only way to do it is by holding repeat elections:

“The country is currently in a state of political, economic, and pandemic–induced crisis. Even the vaccination program has failed because they have little trust in the [government’s] programs. We need a restart, and in any given country a restart is achieved through holding early elections.”