Ruling GD Member Chichinadze Expelled for “Damaging Party Image”
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, July 20
Davit Chichinadze, ruling Georgian Dream (GD) member and lawmaker has been expelled from the party for “insulting the members of the GD and damaging the party's image and interests.”
The GD website reads that during the last several months Chichinadze made a number of statements which violated party discipline, moral and ethical norms and insulted the party members.
“Insulting the teammates, violating moral and ethical principles and damaging the political team image go beyond all the limits of freedom of expression. This is why the Secretariat of the GD unanimously decided to expel Davit Chichinadze from the party,” the statement of the secretariat reads.
Chichinadze stated the decision of the majority was “unfair”, saying the GD finds it difficult to listen to the truth and accept different opinions.
According to him, the people who signed his expulsion from the party have never been the Georgian Dream, adding the GD is the society and its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“It is interesting what they will blame me for. The people who signed my expulsion from the party have never been the Georgian Dream,” he said, adding he will stay in politics.
“I will not leave the parliament and will continue my work. I am a majoritarian MP, and I have my values. These values are important for my voters because our values coincide. There are problematic issues and I am in politics in order to keep promises," Chichinadze said.
The MP thinks that GD Chair Ivanishvili was not informed about his expulsion.
“If the voters of the party decide to expel me, it will be the real expulsion and not the actions of Kobakhidze and his supporter Bolsheviks,” he said, referring to Parliament Chair Irakli Kobakhidze, who was several times slammed by Chichinadze in the past.
Another GD MP, Gedevan Popkhadze expressed solidarity to the expelled teammate, saying GD cannot accept criticism and it should be called a “Communist Union” or a “Communist Party.”
The GD member and Vice-Speaker, Gia Volsky, who is also a member of the party secretariat and signed the expulsion document, responded his remarks.
“The decision was hard to make but Chichinadze opposed the views of the other members of the team with his opinions and expressions. The main thing for us is to maintain stability within the team,” he said, adding the team will also discuss statements of Popkhadze and will make a decision about his staying in the team.
Opposition believes Chichinadze was expelled for being critical and also for protecting former PM, Giorgi Kvirikashvili who left the post on June 13 after disagreement with Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“Davit Chichinadze's expulsion from the party is a black spot for both GD and the parliament. The MPs are not even protected for being critical,” opposition United National Movement member Roman Gotsiridze stated.
After Kvirikashvili’s resignation, Chichinadze became more critical and slammed the majority MPs, the government, and asked for early parliamentary elections.
