Public movement Popular Force condemns US Ambassador for not distancing herself from “war rhetoric”
The statement noted there could be “only one logical explanation” for Degnan’s refusal to answer questions about the latest developments in the country, adding “the Embassy plans to direct efforts to inflame polarisation and coordinate the actions of the radical opposition aimed at the change of the Government”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Popular Force, a newly launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Thursday released a statement saying the actions of Kelly Degnan, the United states Ambassador to Georgia, “reinforce people's belief that the radical agenda of the radical [domestic] opposition is coordinated by the United States Embassy”.
The statement came from the movement involving the MPs who left GD following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the faction, and alleged Degnan’s failure to distance herself from “politically motivated pressure” on a Tbilisi City Court judge “reinforces people's belief that the radical agenda of the radical opposition is coordinated by the Embassy”.
When the US Ambassador does not distance herself from the politically motivated pressure on the judge, the attempt to discredit the [Georgian] Government and the unsubstantiated allegations about informal governance, [and] the rhetoric of war, and conceals the information about the content of [her] meeting with [former Georgian PM] Bidzina Ivanishvili - all this, of course, reinforces people's belief that the radical agenda of the radical opposition is coordinated by the Embassy”, the statement said.
The statement noted there could be “only one logical explanation” for Degnan’s refusal to answer questions about the latest developments in the country, adding “the Embassy plans to direct efforts to inflame polarisation and coordinate the actions of the radical opposition aimed at the change of the Government”.
We posed a very specific question to the US Ambassador: did the Ambassador express her displeasure with the [Georgian] Government's policy regarding the war [in Ukraine] at the meeting [with Ivanishvili]? Did she request Ivanishvili to return to politics on this basis? Did she request an imposition of sanctions on Russia [by the Georgian Government]?”, the statement also said.
The newly launched movement’s remarks also said the US Embassy in Georgia held “no hope that they would drag Georgia into the war” under the Georgian Dream Government and “that is why the Embassy tried persistently before and after the Parliamentary elections [in 2020] to bring the [opposition] United National Movement and its satellites to power”.
The implementation of the revolutionary scenario began three years ago. Everyone remembers well how the [US] Embassy forced the [Georgian] Government to release Ugulava and Okruashvili [opposition leaders] from prison, and to change the electoral system in favour of the United National Movement and its satellites”, the statement noted.
The members of Popular Force movement stressed their statement was not being released to “discredit” the US Embassy or “take revenge” on it, but because “the threat of unrest and war facing Georgia has not been completely removed yet”.
The fact that the Embassy regularly reminds [the public] about Bidzina Ivanishvili's influence can have only one reason - the Embassy is obviously nervous that Bidzina Ivanishvili is not using his influence in [Georgian] politics today. The Embassy wants Bidzina Ivanishvili to use this influence and come back [to political involvement] to drag Georgia into the war”, the statement said.
MPs and members of city councils who have left the ruling Georgian Dream party over the past month following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the team on Thursday declared the founding of a public movement.
Guram Macharashvili, a member of the Parliamentary majority, on Thursday said he was leaving the ruling Georgian Dream party and would join three MPs who exited the team last month following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the faction.
The 12 conditions outlined by the European Council for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status later this year are seen as part of the “revolutionary plan” of the “radical opposition” in the country, three MPs who left the ruling party last week to publicise “behind-the-scenes developments” of the domestic political field said in a statement on Monday.
Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, the three MPs who left the ranks of the ruling Georgian Dream party this week, on Thursday said the decision of the European Council not to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status outright contributed to an “opposite effect” of the objective of depolarisation of its domestic political environment, a qualification included in the body’s requirements to the country.
Gia Volski, a ruling party MP and the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said the United States was the “strongest and the most efficient supporter” of Georgia, but added on its part, it also did not have “as loyal a partner and friend as Georgia” in the South Caucasus region.
Popular Force, a recently launched public movement composed of former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Tuesday released a statement claiming “disrespectful and crass attitude” towards Georgian state institution in a United Sates Embassy document on the country’s judicial reform.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chairman of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday said the ruling Georgian Dream party could not follow the “tone and style” of the statements by the MPs who had left GD following a disagreement over the public relations strategy with the rest of the faction and were criticising actions of the United States Embassy and Ambassador Kelly Degnan.
United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan on Wednesday said allegations of the Embassy’s interference in Georgia’s domestic institutions by several Georgian MPs were “reckless conspiracy theories” and had no basis.
Dimitri Khundadze, an independent MP and a member of the Popular Force movement, on Wednesday said it was “very sad” that the United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan “uses the talking points” of the opposition United National Movement party in her response to the movement’s criticism of the Embassy’s wording of a document on the country’s judiciary reform.
Popular Force, a newly launched public movement composed of the former ruling Georgian Dream party MPs who exited the team in June, on Monday released a statement saying by standing up for the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, the United States Embassy was backing a return to power of the opposition United National Movement party through “revolution” and opening of a “second front” of the ongoing Ukraine war in Georgia.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, a Georgian-based election watchdog, should “distance itself” from “improperly made” demands that “are not suitable for an NGO”.