Prepared by Messenger Staff
Gakharia for Georgia to Surrender Parliamentary Mandates if Constitutional Court Bans Party
The opposition party Gakharia for Georgia will relinquish its parliamentary mandates if the Constitutional Court bans the party, MP Shalva Kereselidze has said.
Speaking to journalists, Kereselidze argued that the mandates would have no value if the party were prohibited from continuing its political activities.
"None of the mandates are majoritarian. These are proportional mandates received directly by the party, Gakharia for Georgia. If our party is banned and political activity is prohibited for us, I believe the mandates received by the party will have no [legal] force or value," he said.
Kereselidze added that a ban would mean the party had no reason to remain in Parliament.
"If our party is prohibited from engaging in political activity, then, naturally, we will no longer have any business in Parliament either, and these mandates will have no value or force," he stated.
Asked directly whether the party would surrender its parliamentary mandates in that case, Kereselidze replied: "Yes, of course."
Papuashvili Says Patriarch's Baptism in Adjara Drew Three Times More People Than Opposition Rally
Georgian Dream Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has claimed that three times more people attended a baptism ceremony led by the Catholicos-Patriarch in Upper Adjara than participated in an opposition rally in Tbilisi.
Commenting on the rally organized by the Opposition Alliance under the slogan "Georgia Without Ivanishvili," Papuashvili accused the demonstrators of being a "pseudo-religious sect" seeking to marginalize the Georgian Orthodox Church and bring to power forces serving foreign governments.
He described the opposition as "anti-patriotic" and said the contrast between the two gatherings showed where the Georgian people stood.
Papuashvili also dismissed reports of disagreements among opposition figures over banners featuring former President Mikheil Saakashvili, calling the rally part of the "collective National Movement." He accused figures including Giga Bokeria and Nika Gvaramia, whom he said had played key roles in Saakashvili's government, of staging political disputes while remaining aligned.
He described the apparent divisions as a political "game" that had continued for 14 years and argued that the opposition was seeking to legitimize the "collective National Movement."
