Elections singular way for Gov’t change, coup doomed to fail - ruling party Sec Gen
Kakha Kaladze, the ruling Georgian Dream party Secretary General, said on Monday that a part of the domestic opposition was interested in overthrowing the Government. Photo: Kakha Kaladze’s Facebook page
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Elections are the only way to change the Government and any attempts to overthrow it will be “doomed to fail”, Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Tbilisi Mayor, said on Monday in response to comments by opposition leader Nika Melia on an “urgent need for changes in the state leadership”.
In his remarks, Kaladze said the “radical” United National Movement party, founded by the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and chaired by Melia, “has always been interested in unrest and confrontations”.
It is well-known to everyone that the UNM is a group which is interested in sparking unrest that would lead to a revolution. It is not my view - the party is open to [publicly] saying this. However, any such attempts will be doomed to fail. The Georgian Government will do its utmost to ensure peace and stability in the country”, Kaladze said.
In a briefing on Monday, Melia accused the Georgian Dream Government and its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili of being “pro-Russian” and of “deliberate weakening of state institutions”, promising “immediate improvements” as soon as a “new political force” would take office.
Other opposition groups have announced street rallies starting September, in a bid to “change the Government and ensure Georgia’s European integration”.
In response, GD said the opposition’s moves were targeted “against Georgia’s European Union membership” and were dictated “only by their narrow political interests to grab power”.
Givi Mikanadze, an MP for the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said it was “difficult to talk about" national consensus when leaders of the domestic "radical opposition" were announcing rallies and "trying to radicalise the political environment" in the country.
The Strategic Communications Service of the Government of Georgia on Tuesday dismissed allegations by the Chair of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia about a leak of personal information of a Georgian combatant from the archives of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chairman of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday said the aim of the opposition United National Movement, Lelo and Strategy Aghmashenebeli parties was to “cast a shadow” over the process of the implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the domestic opposition was “doing everything” to prevent the country from receiving the European Union membership candidate status as it believed the outcome would boost the Government’s position.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said while the domestic “radical opposition” was talking about “revolutionary scenarios”, the Government was holding its place and would “do everything to maintain peace and double-digit economic growth” in the country.
Levan Ioseliani, an opposition MP from the Citizens party, said on Tuesday that small, “radical” opposition parties were waiting for the dissolution of the largest domestic opposition group, the United National Movement, to “take advantage” of the process and “win UNM voters”, in comments on plans of the Girchi - More Freedom and other opposition parties to start holding rallies against the Government starting next month.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the talk of snap Parliamentary elections in the country - as demanded by a part of the domestic opposition - was “absurd”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said anyone who considered themselves a friend of the Georgian people must focus on “not encouraging a radical agenda in the country”, in reference to a part of the domestic opposition’s stance.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said the ruling Georgian Dream party was the only domestic political force that “combines Europeanism and patriotism”.
The Georgian state security service on Monday claimed “deliberate provocation” in recent allegations by an opposition figure and a media outlet over an alleged leak of personal information of servicemember Mikheil Kamkhadze from the country’s defence ministry archives and its sale to Russia, following the release of interim results of its investigation into the case.