Georgia’s ruling party official accuses opposition of seeking to undermine national sovereignty

Irakli Kirtskhalia, Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, said on Monday that it was important to remember who was speaking in the name of democracy and European values.

Kirtskhalia was responding to remarks by Levan Machavariani, First Deputy Chair of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, who accused opposition parties, NGOs and activists of repeatedly seeking to destabilise Georgia and stage revolutions, alleging that their actions had been coordinated with foreign actors.

Machavariani described what he called “proxy opposition parties, wealthy NGOs and ultra-leftist, pseudo-liberal activists” as “enemies of Georgia”.

“It is important to remind the public chronologically who speaks to us in the name of democracy and what the so-called parties represent, and how various names and surnames from non-governmental organisations are distributed among their branches”, Kirtskhalia said.

He alleged that those now appearing as political parties were part of what he called an “agent network” and were acting on instructions from individuals who had planned scenarios for Georgia.

“We should remind the public how large a machine has been working, and continues to work, to undermine genuine sovereignty and genuine democracy in the country”, Kirtskhalia said.