Ruling party MP says party will “go down in history as signatory of most important decision” for European integration

Rati Ionatamishvili, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday told the Parliament the ruling party would “go down in Georgia’s history as the signatory of the most important decision on the path of the country's European integration”, in an apparent reference to the granting of the European Union membership candidate status last year.

Speaking at the Parliament during discussions of President Salome Zourabichvili veto on the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence, Ionatamishvili claimed the opposition United National Movement party would in contrast “go down in history for 100 rulings by the European Court of Human Rights” against the former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the party's Government.

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He claimed the opposition was “trying to damage the image of Georgia in the international arena by spreading lies” in its criticism of the law, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

The fallacy also surfaced during the discussion of the transparency law, when we heard a lot of misinformation. We had been looking for arguments [against it] for two months”, the official said.

In fact, yesterday at the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, the Parliamentary Secretary of the President embodied the radical opposition, which is devoid of content and arguments and only fights against Georgia with disinformation and a harmful campaign’, he added.

Ionatamishvili claimed UNM should “take responsibility for spreading the disinformation”, adding the public would “give the opposition party a proper and strict answer” in parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.