Ruling party chair: demanding political responsibility of Tbilisi mayor for Vake Park incident “empty speculation”, “absolutely inappropriate”

Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the domestic opposition’s demands of “political responsibility” of Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze in the wake of the tragic incident that took the life of one minor and injured two others in the city’s Vake Park last week was “empty speculation” and “absolutely inappropriate”.

Kobakhidze said the “tragic outcome” - where the minors were electrocuted by an exposed wire in the water of the newly renovated fountain in the park - had been caused by a “specific misconduct” and “negligence”, not a “systemic problem”. 

He also said the issue of “political responsibility” could arise “if any systemic problem is revealed in the agency”, but pointed out the circumstances were “radically different” in the given case.

During these five years, under the leadership of Kakha Kaladze, thousands of projects have been implemented by Tbilisi city hall, and these projects were distinguished by their high quality, both visually and technically. Therefore, there is no systemic problem - on the contrary, systematically, the projects are implemented successfully”, the GD official said.

“In this case, there was a specific misconduct, negligence, which led to a tragic result. However, as for a systemic problem, such a systemic problem is not revealed. In such circumstances, talking about the political responsibility of the mayor, Kakha Kaladze, is an empty speculation and absolutely inappropriate”, he concluded in his comments.

Georgian law enforcement on Tuesday arrested nine individuals, including the deputy head of Tbilisi city hall’s environmental protection service, following its investigation into the deadly electrocution incident.

• Nine including Tbilisi city hall official arrested for electrocution incident that killed minor

The arrested individuals have been charged with violation of safety regulations, professional neglect, incitement to forgery, forgery of official documents and use of forged documentation.