Parliament vice speaker: gov’t ready to involve “radical” opposition in implementation of EU membership conditions

Archil Talakvadze, the vice speaker of the Georgian parliament, on Thursday said if the “radical” part of the domestic opposition wished to participate in the process of implementing the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status, the government was “ready to cooperate”.

Talakvadze made the comment as part of remarks that said the section of the opposition was hoping to see “harm” caused to the country from a failure to implement the conditions, adding the groups perceived it as an opportunity against the government.

“They believe that if Georgia is harmed, it will be the government that is harmed first of all, as the responsible, main actor [on the political scene]”, he noted, before claiming the “radical” opposition would try to create an “uncontrolled process” in the country and engage in “street politics” of demonstrations in such a scenario.

Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said a part of the domestic opposition was “vitally interested” in the country not receiving the European Union membership candidate status.