Parliament Speaker: Country’s problem is “radicalisation from certain political groups”, not polarisation

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said the country’s problem was “radicalisation from certain political groups”, for whom the democratic process was “unacceptable”, and not polarisation, as Georgian society was united around the “basic issues” including the country’s European integration.

The radical groups [of the domestic opposition] want to rule the country without the support of the people and legal elections, Papuashvili noted, stressing “democracy can not compromise with radicalism”.

The Government has almost finished the implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union [in June] for granting the membership candidate status to Georgia later this year, the Parliament Speaker told the Public Broadcaster and stressed it was “impossible to achieve depolarisation” [the first point of EU conditions] “for many reasons”, including the actions of the radical opposition - “boycotting the parliament and organising rallies” instead of taking part in fulfilling the recommendations.

The “continuous support” of the European People's Party to the “radical” domestic United National Movement party has been clearly seen, Papuashvili emphasised, adding every European structure had to “realise” that supporting radicalism in Georgia would not make it possible for the country “to achieve depolarisation”.