Ruling party head: MEPs calls for Saakashvili’s transfer “absurd and shameful”

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday called “absurd and shameful” the calls by some members of the European Parliament on the Georgian authorities to transfer the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili to a European Union member country for “necessary and appropriate medical care”.

In his comments over the statement by 44 MEPs, issued on Thursday, Kobakhidze alleged it aimed to “incite polarisation” on the political scene in the country.

The authors of this appeal are odious MEPs. You remember that Saakashvili was dying every day for 600 days, [and then] after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights [that denied his request for transfer abroad] it became clear that Saakashvili decided not to die every day, but after a while he changed his decision again. What the odious MEPs are doing is not only absurd, but shameful”, Kobakhidze said.

“The purpose of all this is to incite polarisation, bring chaos to the country, [and open] the second front [of the war in Ukraine]. Of course, we will not allow all this. Our goal is the opposite - we do not want polarisation [and] chaos but want peace in this country. Therefore, we will act not according to dictates of odious MEPs but in the interests of our country”, the ruling party head concluded. 

Zurab Chkhaidze, the Medical Director of Tbilisi’s Vivamedi clinic where Saakashvili is receiving treatment, on Thursday said a visiting group of Polish medical professionals had “approved” the treatment offered by the staff of the venue to the former official. 

Saakashvili is currently serving a six-year-term for abuse of power while in office in two separate cases, while three other cases involving him are still pending. He was arrested in Tbilisi in October 2021 after eight years abroad, following his clandestine return to Georgia ahead of domestic municipal elections.