Lithuanian president ready to mediate talks between Georgian ruling party, opposition
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says that the current political tension in Georgia can be solved only through a dialogue between parties. Photo: DELFI / Andrius Ufartas.
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Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has stated that he is ready to mediate talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition to help them end the current political tension in the country.
Georgian opposition parties have been demanding snap elections since the parliamentary elections took place on October 31, 2020 and now have taken to the streets again earlier this week, following the arrest of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia.
Melia, who is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019, was arrested on February 23 for refusal to post bail.
Georgian opposition parties say that rallies will continue until Melia and the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua are released, and repeat parliamentary elections scheduled. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Nauseda says that Georgia’s ‘ambitious’ European and Euro-Atlantic integration goals require ‘broad political unity and concerted actions, including constructive and continuous dialogue with all political parties.’
We remain fully committed to supporting Georgia’s Euroatlantic path and will support all efforts to overcome the current political situation. Lithuania is ready for mediation efforts in searching for a dialogue and consensus among all parties,” said Nauseda’s official statement.
He said that Lithuania remains Georgia’s ‘steadfast supporter’ in its resolve to stand against the Russian occupation of its territories which continues up till today.
The Georgian opposition parties which took to the street following the recent arrest of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia are now holding a protest in downtown Tbilisi on Rustaveli Avenue. They say that protests will continue at parliament, the administrative building of the government of Georgia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and at Tbilisi City Court until Melia and the co-founder of the opposition-minded Mtavari Arkhi TV channel Giorgi Rurua are released, and repeat parliamentary elections scheduled.
New Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has addressed the nation saying that Georgia’ has no time to lose’. ‘Today is not the time for division – it is the time for unification’, he stated. Garibashvili who was confirmed prime minister yesterday said in his recent video address that amid the important challenges Georgia is facing nowadays, including the pandemic, ‘we must all unite’ regardless the political beliefs and views.
EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell has responded to a special forces storm of the United National Movement office this morning to arrest its chair Nika Melia and said that 'all sides need to demonstrate responsibility and have the best interest of the country and the Georgian people at heart' in his post on Twitter.
Former opposition MP and the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia has been arrested by police earlier today for refusal to post bail shortly after the parliament approved Irakli Garibashvili prime minister and his cabinet late yesterday. Melia was arrested in his office in the UNM headquarters in Tbilisi by special unit servicemen. Police allegedly used pepper spray in the room.