Opposition remain divided as Public Assembly approaches

The Georgian opposition still remains split on the on the idea of participation in the Representative Public Assembly. The number of opposition parties who will participate in the Assembly activities is still unknown. What is clear is that the different political movements have wide-ranging attitudes towards the event.

"I appeal to the political to the political parties to stand with us, not as the politicians, but as citizens of Georgia"- head of the initiative group of the Assembly, Nona Gaprindashvili stated, on September 28, as she has mentioned, “We stand above politics. I appeal to those parties, which have refused participation in the Assembly meeting to give up making excuses and gather at the meeting, if they really want the present authority to be removed. We have no party criteria here, everyone should have an opportunity to be involved in the process and fix this attitude, “Gaprindashvili stated.

As it seems this appeal has not been enough to change the attitudes of some opposition movements, “We will not take part in the events which are organized by others and for which we have not taken part in planning. We oppose neither the idea of Representative Public Assembly, nor its organizers; however we will not take part in the meeting. Herewith, it is difficult to say what results will be yielded from the Assembly, “Manana Nachkebia, from New Rights, stated.

The idea of Public Representative Assembly is acceptable to the Georgian Labour Party, however, at the present moment they are not ready to participate in the meeting, one of the leaders of the party, Nestan Kirtadze told the Messenger, “As we do not have information on the assembly’s priorities and action plan, we will not gather at the Assembly meeting. First of all, discussions should be held on the assembly related issues. As for the idea, we express our solidarity towards all ideas, which are aimed at protecting Georgian interests, “Kirtadze stated.

Those opposition parties, who have already confirmed their participation in the Assembly meeting, which is to be held on September 29, are: Democratic Movement-United Georgia, chaired by former Parliament speaker, Nino Burjanadze, Movement for Fair Georgia, the Whites and the Movement – Solidarity to Illegal Prisoners, “I fully support the idea of Representative Public Assembly. I think that people should express their position concerning the present authority and make a decision,” Eka Beselia, Leader of the Movement Solidarity of illegal prisoners, said.

As for the Authority, it does not fear the opposition's actions, “The opposition failed to unite around a common ideology. They plan to unite now on the basis of their common hatred of the Government but they will fail again. There are people in the opposition who do not recognize that Russia occupied Georgian territories and collaborate with our enemy. Georgian people can see everything clearly and their attitude has been revealed during elections. Georgia has chosen the right way of development and no one will disturb the process of advancing the country. Georgia is a democratic country; everyone has the right to express their attitudes in the frame of democracy, “MP, Nugzar Tsiklauri told the Messenger.

Those opposition representatives, allegedly collaborating with Russian forces has also become an important issue for majority MP, Koba Khabazi, who has appealed to the Georgian society to express antipathy towards those, who shake hands with the enemy of Georgia and the whole Caucasus, “Certain parts of the Georgian opposition think that Georgian society approved of their voyages and collaborations with Russian forces. The reason for this is that Georgian people do not express sufficient hatred towards those, who shake hands with those who have killed our compatriots. Georgian people should express more antipathy towards them, “Khabazi stated.

As analyst, Gia Khukhashvili told the Messenger, “From the beginning, the idea was very much acceptable. Accordingly, people respected by the society should be involved in the issue and not only those who are politically motivated. However, political movements have taken the reins from the beginning, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of the idea. I do not want to be very skeptical, however there is a threat that the Assembly will become a political stunt, rather than a massive public representation, “Khukhashvili stated.