Georgian PM calls October parliamentary elections “decisive referendum between peace, war”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who leads the electoral office of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday highlighted the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26 as a “decisive referendum” where voters “must choose between war and peace, moral decadence and traditional values, dark past and bright European future”.

In his speech at an election campaign event in the city of Ozurgeti of the country's western Guria region, Kobakhidze emphasised “numerous crimes committed by a political force [the United National Movement party] that ruled the country for nine years [from 2003 to 2012]”.

“For nine years, the country was governed by the political force that committed countless crimes against the Georgian state and people. These crimes included the establishment of authoritarianism, murder and torture of individuals, business racketeering, the seizure of television stations, rigging of elections, and the temporary loss of the country’s territories”, the PM said.

He added that now the external forces were telling people that Georgia’s European future could only be secured by re-electing the “anti-European political force”.

“It is not difficult to understand why certain forces might want to return the old regime to power - again, for all the crimes I mentioned, and most importantly, for the war, towards which the radical opposition has been actively dragging the country for the third year,” he pointed out.

The Prime Minister also hailed Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Honorary Chair and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former Prime Minister, for his role in the “democratic transformation” of the country in 2012.

“We have maintained continuous peace for 12 years, and Georgia has become the EU candidate country”, the head of the Government added.

Kobakhidze also announced that the Government would unveil its new election program on October 1, describing it as both “ambitious and viable.”