Georgian ruling party official claims opposition planned to “incite riots” before Gov’t announcement of halt of EU accession talks

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday claimed the domestic  opposition had  plotted to “incite riots” next month by taking advantage of  the European Commission's expected  decision against opening  accession talks with the country during an upcoming Council of Foreign Affairs meeting.

Mdinaradze added the Government's “proactive decisions” had “thwarted these intended disturbances”, after the Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday announced suspension of the country’s European Union accession talks and refusal to receive the bloc’s budget grants until 2028.

We cannot lie to you about having any detailed information from the European Council, but we do have insight from our opponents. Plans were set in motion to incite riots in Georgia if the Commission did not agree to commence negotiations”, the party official alleged.

Our observation that there will be attempts at such unrest every autumn and spring is rooted in the timing of  Council meetings, held biannually during these seasons, where such critical issues are discussed”, he said.

Mdinaradze further claimed the opposition’s strategies for the next four years were “centered around the expected unrest”.

They [understood] they could not convince anyone that 300,000 to 400,000 votes were falsified [during last month’s general elections], suggesting [to call off the process]. During the first session [of Parliament], about 800 individuals gathered but did not protest the Government’s approval, indicating their preparation for December 16 [alleged plans]”, he said.

The official claimed the alleged riots stemmed from the opposition hoping to create “perceptions of a failure” of the Georgian Dream party around the anticipated refusal of the European Council and European Commission to engage in negotiations for accession talks.

We successfully thwarted these plans and removed their main leverage. This serves as an answer to our supporters who are asking what we intended to achieve and what our current goals are, now that the situation has calmed down and the tensions in our public have diminished”, he said.

Like in case of the law on transparency of foreign influence, we have successfully prevented plans for the upcoming fall. Efforts were made to focus on these and similar issues to conserve energy for the elections, which could have undermined the electoral process. This is why Georgian Dream managed to avoid disorder and chaos during the elections, while also promoting the law and its version of transparency”, Mdinaradze added.

The comment came amid protests outside the Parliament building in central Tbilisi overnight against the Government’s decision to halt the accession talks until 2028.