Govt won’t allow “radical opposition groups” to spark unrests - Parliament Vice-Speaker

Archil Talakvadze, the Vice-Speaker in the Georgian Parliament, said on Friday the Georgian Dream Government would “not allow any unrest in the country and prevent any attempts” by “radical opposition groups” to make changes in domestic politics with the help of street rallies, in comments to opposition leader Zurab Japaridze, who called for “large-scale disobedience campaign” against the Government on Thursday in a bid for early elections. 

• Parliament Vice Speaker slams Ukrainian MP for “unfriendly” statements, vows support for Ukrainian people

In his remarks, Talakvadze pledged the Government would take steps to facilitate replacement of “radical, anti-state opposition forces” by those “that are willing for Georgia’s European integration”. 

Georgian politics will no longer be run from the streets. The current Government will not allow this to happen. We will do our utmost to proceed with democratic reforms and replace radical, anti-democratic parties with other opposition forces which will be elected by our people in the next elections”, Takakvadze said. 

In his video address on Thursday, Japaridze, the Chair of the Girchi - More Freedom opposition party, announced rallies starting in September to “force” the Government to accept early parliamentary elections.