Ruling party head questions ex-PM Gakharia for June 2019 rally dispersal in Tbilisi
Ruling party head Irakli Kobakhidze (L) has repeated that former PM Giorgi Gakharia could be allied with the United National Movement opposition party while in office.
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The head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the June 2019 rally dispersal in Tbilisi was ‘unclearly’ planned by then Interior Minister and former PM Giorgi Gakharia who recently founded a new political party For Georgia.
Kobakhidze said that the rally dispersal was planned by Gakharia and his deputy Kakha Sabanadze and the operation ‘led to grave consequences.’
240 individuals, including 32 journalists and 80 law enforcers, were injured during a clash on Rustaveli Avenue on June 20 which was sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the Georgian parliament.
Kobakhidze stated that ‘it is unclear’ why Interior Ministry special unit servicemen stood outside the gate of the Georgian parliament and not inside it on June 19 and 20 and why the riot police used rubber bullets when the rally could have been dispersed with the use of water cannons and other ‘milder measures.’
As earlier, Kobakhidze expressed suspicion that Gakharia could have been under the influence of the opposition at that time.
Political party “For Georgia” - We demand an immediate investigation into the comments of the current chairman of the ruling party @GeorgianDream41 https://t.co/sHf554NHnZ
— Kakhaber Kemoklidze (@KakhaKemoklidze) June 5, 2021
Gakharia, who was praised for the rally dispersal that time by the ruling Georgian Dream party, resigned as the country’s PM and left the Georgian Dream in February 2021.
He stated that he resigned due to controversies with the ruling party on the issue of the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia who was arrested shortly after Gakharia’s resignation for his refusal to post bail for the case connected with June 2019 protests.
Melia is charged with violence during June protests.
Gakharia said that Melia, like other opposition members, wished to storm the parliament building on June 20 and deserved to be arrested. However, he added that Melia’s arrest would have further complicated the political crisis in the country which began after the 2020 parliamentary elections.
After Gakharia founded his political party at the end of May 2021 Kobakhidze stated that Gakharia’s position on Melia’s issue could be connected with his possible, confidential alliance with the United National Movement opposition and the goal to change the government.
The founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili has also called Gakharia ‘a traitor’ for his position on Melia's case and resignation.
Ivanishvili (L)said that Gakharia ‘betrayed the ruling party and the Georgian state’ when he resigned in February 2021 with the reason that he was against the detention of opposition leader Nika Melia that time. Photo: Gakharia's Facebook page.
The member of Gakharia’s For Georgia party Giorgi Khojevanishvili has responded to the most recent accusations by saying that the ruling party ‘is using all methods’ against Gakharia.
The statements and the rhetoric of the Georgian Dream has become very similar to that of the United National Movement opposition,” Khojevanishvili said.
He stated that the ruling party may also charge Gakharia for June protests.
Why did June 2019 protests begin?
Early on June 19, 2019 Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov occupied the seat of the parliamentary speaker in the parliament to address the audience during the 26th Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy, being held in Georgia at the time.
The move caused protest amongst the public and opposition MPs.
The protests which began in June 2019 lasted several months. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Protestors gathered by the parliament. Late at night they tried to storm the building despite police warnings calling on them not to violate public order.
Riot police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons but clashes between the protestors and law enforcers lasted all night long.
Gakharia and the ruling party stated that police were forced to use rubber bullets because the opposition and groups of individuals tasked by them attempted to break into the parliament building.