Saakashvili urges opposition to leave MP seats
Third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, was convicted in Georgia in absentia in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, has from prison urged opposition MPs to leave their mandates in protest, stating that the Georgian Dream (GD) government fabricated the results of recent municipal elections.
Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, a day before Georgian municipal elections, has praised the Lelo opposition party leader Mamuka Khazaradze for his decision to leave the state legislature.
It will be my advice to all my co-fighters and just patriots of the country to act in the way Khazaradze did,” Saakashvili says.
Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM), Lelo and several other opposition parties have announced rallies in all big cities of Georgia starting tomorrow to demand the annulment of municipal election results.
Tbilisi today after the rigged runoff elections. #FreeSaakashvili pic.twitter.com/gkfDOc0LFY
— Mikheil Saakashvili (@SaakashviliM) October 31, 2021
They will also demand the release of Saakashvili from prison, who returned to Georgia after eight years in political exile to remove the Georgian Dream (GD) from power.
Saakashvili’s girlfriend, Ukrainian MP from the ruling Servant of the People party, Liza Yasko, as well as his lawyers, claim that Saakashvili’s health has worsened ‘too much’ due to the long hunger strike, and are demanding his transportation to a civil clinic.
However, the Georgian Dream government officials say the opposition has plans to create tension at a civil clinic if Saakashvili is brought there.
Saakashvili’s lawyer, former UNM official and director of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi, Nika Gvaramia, claimed earlier today that the government plans to bring Saakashvili to Gori hospital in central Georgia, 'whence he will be kidnapped by de facto Tskhinvali special unit servicemen.’
After meeting with @SaakashviliM, Nika Gvaramia spoke about the possible threat to the third president
— Mtavari TV (@MtavariChannel) November 1, 2021
More: https://t.co/LbMNuy82yL pic.twitter.com/WjBtLPJCzK
The Special Penitentiary Service has responded that what Gvaramia said is a 'lie,' and misleading.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili and ruling party MPs say that Saakashvili ‘is blackmailing his party members and staging a show by his hunger strike to cause tension in the country.’
They say that ‘all conditions have been ensured for Saakashvili’s comfort’ in prison and that the clinic of Prison No.18 is equipped to ensure all service for the former president.
Both Saakashvili and the UNM expected that the GD would either lose or receive just a few votes in the municipal elections, and the opposition would therefore be able to demand snap parliamentary polls to ‘change the authorities via elections.’
However, the ruling party has won 63 of 64 mayoral constituencies, and received 43% of the vote in the proportional part of the race.
Georgian Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze has dismissed the fears of the opposition that ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who was arrested in Tbilisi on October 1, would face threats if taken to a prison hospital for treatment instead of a civic one.
One of the leaders and a co-founder of the Lelo opposition party, Mamuka Khazaradze, says that he will demand the suspension of his MP status to ‘continue the fight on the street’ for the annulment of the recent municipal election results.
The United National Movement (UNM) opposition party has changed the date for a large rally in central Tbilisi this week to protest the results of the recent municipal elections.
The official results of the Central Election Commission (CEC) for the 2021 municipal election run-offs in Georgia show that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party mayoral candidates have won in 19 municipalities, while the opposition United National Movement (UNM) contender has won in just one. Incumbent Tbilisi mayor and candidate Kakha Kaladze from the GD took 55.6% of the votes over the UNM’s Nika Melia, with 100% of the votes counted.
Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and Ukrainian MP from the ruling Servant of the People party Liza Yasko have announced their relationship on Facebook earlier this evening. Yasko, 31, posted a video on her Facebook page with Saakashvili in which the ex-president of Georgia, who was detained by Georgian law enforcement just several hours ago, said that he had created a new family with Yasko.
The Lelo - Partnership for Georgia faction, composed of seven opposition MPs, has boycotted parliament's plenary sessions until arrested former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is brought to a civil clinic to receive ‘proper medical care’ after a 33-day hunger strike.
Former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili released a letter from Rustavi Prison No. 12 earlier today, urging the public to join anti-government rallies announced by the opposition. Saakashvili claims the opposition won the local self-government elections in all cities of Georgia, and asks the citizens of Georgia to join the street rallies, demanding the annulment of election results and his release from prison.
MP from the United National Movement (UNM) Eka Kherkheulidze has said that the ex-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili asks the opposition MPs to refrain from renouncing their mandates before the election bill providing for a lower election threshold is approved. Saakashvili, who had previously urged the opposition to leave their MP seats, has seemingly changed his mind after the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) head Irakli Kobakhidze noted that the ruling party has ‘no obligation’ to support the election bill for a lower threshold.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP, Mamuka Mdinaradze, says that he is sure the arrested former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, will feel good on the 41st day on hunger strike and will appear in a funny situation.
Lelo opposition party leader Mamuka Khazaradze has officially requested parliament earlier today to suspend his MP status to ‘continue the fight on the street’ for the annulment of the recent municipal election results.
The largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party member Nona Mamulashvili has announced earlier today that she will leave the Georgian parliament amid the protests of the municipal election run-offs results and demand of its annulment by the opposition.
More members of opposition are renouncing their MP mandates following the municipal run-offs of October 30 in which the ruling party candidates won the mayoral race in 19 of 20 contested municipalities, including in Tbilisi.