Co-founder of opposition Girchi party Zurab Japaridze fined for operating a night bar

One of the founders of the libertarian-mined opposition Girchi party, Zurab Japaridze, was fined for operating a night bar despite the existing COVID-19 induced regulations. During a live stream on his Facebook page on Friday, Japaridze announced that he would open a bar to deliberately violate the existing government-imposed restrictions on the commercial activity in the country. He added that by managing to operate despite restrictions, the bar would encourage other businesses to do so as well. The Facebook page invites guests to a bar called ‘Japarastan’ reads ‘to everyone who is sick of living like a hamster in a cage”.

The Health Ministry of Georgia’s Labour Department fined Japaridze GEL2,000 for running a bar, however, the opposition politician announced that he has no intention of paying this fine. He said that he is currently under the protection of the immunity of the MP mandate, and is planning to not only reopen the bar but to even celebrate the birthday of one of his fellow party members there.

One more facility and two individuals were fined yesterday for similar violations. As of Monday, February 15, food facilities and restaurants will be able to operate their outdoor terraces amidst the decrease in the numbers of persons infected with the coronavirus.

Zurab Japaridze, co-founder of the Girchi party has recently left it to start a Girchi party of his own, called More Freedom – Girchi. His decision to leave came shortly after the controversies rising around his fellow party members. Japaridze explained that he envisions for Girchi to be a more open platform, able to support young politicians. Japaridze also explained that he would not cooperate with the other co-founders of the Girchi party for “many reasons”.

During the Parliamentary Elections of 2020, Girchi managed to overcome the 1% threshold, however, the MPs refused to claim the four seats in the Parliament. Girchi believes that October 2020 was fabricated and demands repeat elections to be held.