Ex-PM Gakharia dismisses media reports of meeting with Saakashvili
Ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia says that the ruling party is fighting with him. Photo: government of Georgia press office.
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Former Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, who currently chairs the For Georgia political party, has dismissed the reports of Rustavi 2 that he has met with Georgia’s ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili in Washington D.C.
Gakharia, who has held several meetings with US officials and experts earlier this week, has confirmed that he and Saakashvili both stayed at the Mayflower Hotel, but it was a coincidence.
We booked the hotel earlier before the visit because the site was convenient to us for meetings. I have nothing to do with Saakashvili,” Gakharia said.
He stated that ‘if the ruling party had fought with the United National Movement with the strength it fights with me, there would be a different political reality in the country.’
A member of For Georgia party Kakhaber Kemoklidze says that the ruling party is engaged with spreading fake information.
Ruling party head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that 'the coincidence further strengthened a suspicion that Gakharia and Saakashvili are cooperating.'
Earlier Kobakhidze expressed his suspicion that before resignation Gakharia could cooperate with the United National Movement (UNM) opposition and its leader Saakashvili to overthrow the government.
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Gakharia resigned as the country’s PM and left the Georgian Dream back in February 2021.
He stated that the reason for the resignation was a disagreement with the ruling party on the issue of the head of UNM, who was arrested shortly after Gakharia’s resignation for his refusal to post bail for the case connected with June 2019 protests in Tbilisi.
Gakharia later formed the For Georgia party in May and confirmed its participation in the upcoming municipal elections in October.
Former Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia has posted a photo taken at the grave of the country’s first President Zviad Gamsakhurdia earlier today and stated that ‘we must end polarisation and work towards the building of a successful state.’
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced his resignation earlier today, saying that the step is connected with the upcoming arrest of the opposition MP, the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia. Gakharia has stated that Melia violated the law and has been engaged in sparking tension in the country.
Georgian broadcasting channel Rustavi 2 reported on Wednesday an alleged meeting of the country’s ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili and the former PM Giorgi Gakharia, now the leader of the opposition party For Georgia, at the Mayflower Hotel in the United States’ capital. Members of both parties strongly denied rumours about the meeting, calling it fake news created by the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Ex-PM Giorgi Gakharia, who resigned and left the ruling party back in February and recently created a new political party For Georgia, has responded to criticism and allegations of treason by the ruling Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s recently launched political party For Georgia has received 296,266 GEL (about $95,326/€81,385) in donations within the last several months while the ruling Georgian Dream party’s Head Irakli Kobakhidze accused Gakharia that its party is financed from Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.