PM on opposition rally: gov’t, strategic partners taking initiative to resolve problems at the table
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia says that the opposition is trying to spark destabilisation in the country. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has responded to the opposition’s election-related rally yesterday and stated that ‘every process seeking to take matters to the street, like what we saw yesterday, must be, on our own initiative and that of our strategic partners, transferred onto a legal and political platform.’
Gakharia said that a ‘totally irresponsible, radical part of the opposition’ called for disobedience yesterday and had plans to storm the Central Election Commission headquarters.
Most importantly, insults were hurled against police officers and doctors, those who are the backbone of the country today in its fight against various crises, and we, in fact, heard direct calls for the destruction of state institutions. We all must understand that this is not a task facing just law enforcement. The state’s response must be legitimate and tough,” Gakharia said.
He addressed the eight opposition parties which entered parliament, saying that despite the pandemic many people came to the ballot boxes on October 31 and ‘gave us the mandate to look out for the country’.
The opposition has plans to continue rally today. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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And this mandate, above all else, means dealing with the pandemic and recession, and ensuring against halting the process of the country’s democratization all the while,” Gakharia said.
Gakharia stated that amid the pandemic, the country faces different challenges, particularly in the state economy.
Today we are counting each hospital bed, each ambulance crew in the country, and we are calculating where to dispatch each doctor. Challenges are even greater in the economy. We are trying to deal with it all so as to enhance the quality of the country’s democratization even further. Ultimately, peace and democracy have no alternative, of course. Every process seeking to take matters to the street, like what we saw yesterday, must be-on our own initiative and that of our strategic partners-translated onto legal and political platforms,” Gakharia said.
Police used water cannons to disperse the opposition’s demonstration in Tbilisi yesterday.
Opposition parties say that the Georgian Dream government falsified the October 31 parliamentary elections with the help of the Central Election Commission.