New ruling party head unveils election plans, condemns “treason”, “criminal past” of President, opposition figure

Irakli Garibashvili, the new Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the former Prime Minister of Georgia, on Thursday said his party’s goal was to secure a constitutional majority in the October general elections, while also condemning “anti-state” and “criminal activities” of President Salome Zourabichvili and the founder of the Lelo opposition party Mamuka Khazaradze. 

Garibashvili, who resigned from the PM position in January, said he would launch visits to the country’s regions starting from the next month in efforts to gain early momentum for claiming at least 113 votes in the 150-member Parliament.

Reacting to Zourabichvili’s planned, unauthorised participation in the Munich Security Conference this week, the former PM reminded the President she had won the 2018 election through Ivanishvili’s “backing” and accused her of “repeat violations” of the country’s constitution through her foreign trips without the Government's approval.

He said Zourabichvili was pursuing the “radical agenda” of the United National Movement opposition party and had taken actions to “hamper” Georgia’s obtaining of the European Union membership candidate status last year. 

Garibashvili claimed the President had committed “treason in the eyes of every member of our party”, and her actions “do not serve the country’s interests”. 

[Zourabichvili] has blatantly violated the constitution on multiple occasions and continues to do so. She has chosen this path for herself, aligning with a radical, extremist position, and inevitably, she will face the consequences. She will ultimately share in a significant defeat alongside the opposition”, the party official claimed.

On Khazaradze’s calls for Bidzina Ivanishvili, the GD founder and its Honorary Chair, to be forced to “return to Russia” after the elections - in reference to the former PM’s business career in the country in the 1990s - Garibashvili called the opposition party leader a “criminal” who had been found guilty of fraud in 2022 and was “affiliated” with UNM and its “radical agenda”. 

He is threatening the man [Ivanishvili] who saved our country and its people from a neo-fascist regime, ensuring lasting peace and economic prosperity”, Garibashvili said. 

The official also rejected media reports that said his entourage had been summoned for interviews at the State Security Service for inquiries into possible corruption as “fake”.