Parliament Vice Speaker claims radical” opposition has “used youth for political purposes” at protest rallies
Talakvadze said it was “necessary to find out who encouraged” the violent developments during the protest rallies, where demonstrators clashed with law enforcement outside the Parliament building in the capital. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Parliament’s Vice Speaker, on Monday claimed the “radical” domestic opposition had “used the youth for their political purposes” during last month’s protests in Tbilisi against the proposed bill on transparency of foreign influence.
Talakvadze said it was “necessary to find out who encouraged” the violent developments during the protest rallies, where demonstrators clashed with law enforcement outside the Parliament building in the capital.
The radical opposition and the media affiliated with them are trying to convince the public that pouring gasoline on people, setting them on fire, burning cars bought by citizens' taxes, setting fire to the Parliament building can be justified by judging a person's biography and appearance. They are taking this issue in an absolutely damaging way, unacceptable for democracy and free society”, the Parliament official said in reference to arrests made following the clashes.
The official also accused a part of the opposition of having “stood in the back row of the rallies, hid behind the youth, used the youth for their political purposes” before going “into hiding” and leaving young demonstrators “when the protest reached its climax”.
It is necessary to find out - and the investigation should determine - who were the instigators of this violence. Not only those who committed them, but those who encouraged all this should also appear, and they should also take political responsibility”, he concluded.
The Georgian Interior Ministry made arrests during the protests between March 7-9 which resulted in the ruling Georgian Dream party withdrawing the bill that called for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “agents of foreign influence” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
The controversial legislative proposal was met with a backlash by domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country, as well as the public rallies outside the legislative body before it was shelved.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday claimed President Salome Zourabichvili had "strengthened the false campaign” of the opposition United National Movement party with her address to the Parliament on Friday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said protesters attacking law enforcement at rallies was “unacceptable” and a “red line on which we will be uncompromising”, amid the case of a citizen charged with violence during last month’s demonstrations in Tbilisi.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday called the fact of Viola von Cramon, a member of the European Parliament, joining a rally organised in Tbilisi by a domestic political party on Saturday “unacceptable”, adding it “once again” showed her “attitude towards the Georgian state”.
Gia Volski, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Sunday said the member of the European parliament Viola von Cramon, was “part of a plot” against Georgia.
Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Saturday said the individuals protesting outside the Parliament building against the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence - whether urged by opposition or not - had taken “completely unusual steps”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday claimed the goal of the domestic “radical” opposition was to see the country fail to receive the European Union membership candidate status and see war break out in Georgia amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday challenged Salome Samadashvili, an MP for the opposition Lelo party, on her supportive comments about Lazare Grigoriadis, the protester arrested for alleged assault on law enforcement officers during last month's public rallies in Tbilisi, by asking her if she would "thank" the latter if it was proven by courts that he "poured gasoline on and set another person on fire".
Archil Talakvadze, the Vice Speaker in the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday said the United States Department of State’s decision on Wednesday to impose sanctions on four Georgian judges was “unfair”, "absolutely unacceptable” and “incompatible” with the strategic cooperation between the states.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday said “if Georgia does not receive the European Union membership candidate status, the “radical” domestic opposition will use it to stir up unrest in the country”.
The Georgian Interior Ministry on Saturday said it had launched an investigation into an assault on Zurab Girchi Japaridze, the leader of the Girchi - More Freedom opposition party, in the central Georgian municipality of Gori on Saturday.