Kobakhidze Says Insulting Answer Given to “Colleague” Regarding US Ambassador’s Response
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, July 11, 2022
In an open letter to U.S. Ambassador Kelly Degnan, MP Mikheil Kavelashvili claimed that no Russian soft power could harm America's reputation in Georgia more than Degnan's words or silence, "which people may perceive as an attempt to restore the National Movement to power."
Mikheil Kavelashvili says that rather than looking for evidence in FSB manuals, one should focus on the statements made by individuals connected to or supported by Degnan and the Ambassador's failure to disassociate herself from them.
Chairman of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, states that US Ambassador Kelly Degnan insulted Mikheil Kavelashvili while replying to his letter.
According to Kobakhidze, Kavelashvili was a parliamentarian elected by the people, and the form and content of the ambassador's response to Kavelashvili's letter are "sad and regrettable.” The chairman of the party says that he cannot comment on the correctness of Kavelashvili's letter to the ambassador, because Kavelashvili is an independent deputy and he has the right to ask questions.
"Here I have to focus on the answer, this also contains some inconvenience for me, because I still have to enter public controversy, but Misha Kavelashvili, leaving aside the fact that he has been a member of the Georgian Dream team for years, is a parliamentarian elected by the people and our colleague, and this form of an answer, and not only the form, but also the content, it was very sad and regrettable for me, I can tell you openly.”
Irakli Kobakhidze said that he is not going to discuss the content of the comment and letter, however, Mikheil Kavelashvili being an exceptionally decent, honorable, and honest man" does not deserve the ‘insult’.
“It was full of lies, conspiracy theories, couldn't read it to the end,” Kelly Degnan on Kavelashvili’s letter
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan responds to the letter of Mikheil Kavelashvili, the MP who has left the Georgian dream, where Kavelashvili says that it would be good if "in order to protect the image of America, the ambassador would publicly disassociate himself from the provocations carried out by the National Movement".
According to Degnan, the MP's letter was full of lies and conspiracy theories, which is why he could not read it completely. As Degnan noted, it is strange that the narrative of former members of the Georgian Dream coincides with the words of some leaders of the ruling party.
"I couldn't even read the letter, which was full of lies and conspiracy theories. He really doesn't understand that the United States of America works and supports not a specific political party, but the Georgian people, supports the independent institutions of the country, which are created according to the constitution. For example, such as the Office of the Public Defender and they have a constitutional mandate to protect the rights of all Georgian citizens. It is dangerous for any democracy when independent institutions are undermined in this way.”
As Degnan noted, it is strange that the narrative of former members of the Georgian Dream coincides with the words of some leaders of the ruling party.
I will repeat once again a matter that has already been said many times to be a lie. The United States and Europe do not want to involve Georgia in Russia's war against Ukraine. We are doing everything we can to prevent this war from expanding and ending it. States work for peace and are ready to cooperate with all who are willing to work and make efforts for peace,” says the US ambassador.
MP Mikheil Kavelashvili, who has left the Georgian dream, addressed a letter to the US ambassador, Kelly Degnan, and said that it would be good, "in order to protect the image of America, the ambassador would publicly disassociate himself from the provocations carried out by the National Movement".
As Kavelashvili noted in the letter, "no Russian soft power can shake the US reputation in Georgia as much as the ambassador's statements or silence", which according to him, people can perceive as an attempt to return the "National Movement" to power.
