NEWS

Parliament Speaker: positive decision on EU candidate status will “strengthen” Gov’t

Papuashvili noted some representatives of the domestic opposition claiming Georgia should not receive the candidate status during their visits to European capitals was “not news”. Photo: Shalva Papuashvili’s Facebook

Agenda.ge, 30 Oct 2023 - 11:09, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said a “positive” decision on the European Union membership candidate status later this year would “strengthen” the Georgian Government ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary Elections.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Papuashvili noted some representatives of the domestic opposition claiming Georgia should not receive the candidate status during their visits to European capitals was “not news” to the Georgian authorities.

The comment came after Khatuna Samnidze, the Chair of the Republican Party opposition group in the Parliament, last week “confirmed” a part of the opposition was lobbying against the country being granted the status.

This is the process when [the opposition representatives] see that the ship they steered against Georgia is sinking and the chances of stopping Georgia from being granted the candidate status are diminishing”, Papuashvili said.

“Now we see that one group is trying to escape from this ship - but they had settled comfortably [on that ship] and did exactly the same thing that they are now accusing others of - and there is another group that is trying to maybe crash this ship into Georgia and damage the process of receiving the candidate status”, the chief Georgian legislator continued.

Papuashvili claimed a part of the opposition “understood” that in case of the country receiving the status the opposition would be “completely discredited as an anti-European force”, with the development leading to the strengthening of positions of the Government.

We will implement all the plans set by the [ruling] Georgian Dream [party] in 2020, and of course this will strengthen the Georgian Government, and we will go to the [2024 Parliamentary] Elections with this strengthened position and the candidate status”, he noted.

Papuashvili alleged a part of the opposition had “already done damage to the country” by lobbying against the country being granted the candidate status.

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