The ruling Georgian Dream party and its Government have never deviated from European choice and values, Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the party said on Thursday, stressing the Government always considered the will of the Georgian people and would continue to do so in the future.
In his social media post, Kaladze was responding to the party’s decision [stated earlier today] to “unconditionally” withdraw the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence from the Parliament. The decision once again confirmed that “individuals, their health and life” have been the ruling party’s “main value”, he noted.
A full-fledged membership of the European family is the choice of the Georgian people and has no alternative”, Kaladze emphasised.
The “disinformation campaign” mounted [by certain groups] around the bill raised questions in the public and caused confusion, resulting in “heartfelt” citizens’ protest, he said, stressing it was the Government’s “responsibility” to elucidate the truth for citizens amid “the flood of lies”.
Fortunately, we were able to prevent the protest of the society, the young people, from turning into chaos and irreparably damaging confrontation, which is the merit of conscientious citizens, law enforcement officers, responsible authorities and the Georgian Orthodox church - all of us”, the GD official said.
Kaladze thanked citizens who had not allowed the “destructive forces” to radicalise the protest and also, the law enforcement officers of the Interior Ministry who had ensured the protection of the rule of law and the European fundamental values with “high professionalism”.
The ruling party today announced it was “unconditionally” withdrawing the controversial bill, which had been proposed by the People's Power movement and met with a backlash by domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country, as well as public rallies outside the legislative body.