Ruling party official dismisses Congressman Joe Wilson's remarks, calls him “regular lobbyist”

Levan Machavariani, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and Deputy Chair of the parliamentary faction of the ruling party, on Friday dismissed the US Congressman Joe Wilson's call for new elections in Georgia, labelling him a “regular lobbyist” aligned with the domestic opposition's rhetoric.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Machavariani responded to Wilson’s statements made at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session, where the Congressman urged to push for new elections in Georgia.

“The European Parliament itself is a good example of this. If I'm not mistaken, they have already adopted their sixth resolution, in which they keep writing absurd things, such as demanding the release of [imprisoned former President] Mikheil Saakashvili. In their latest resolution, they even claimed that Salome Zourabichvili is still the President of Georgia. At this rate, they might as well write that [the wanted former official] Adeishvili is the Minister of Justice of Georgia”, the ruling party official said.

Highlighting the OSCE/ODIHR report on Georgia’s elections, Machavariani claimed that international assessments confirmed the legitimacy and competitiveness of last year's parliamentary elections.

“In the Council of Europe format, our delegation’s mandate was recognised, but, of course, there were several conditions attached, which we considered red lines. We clearly stated this, including in closed meetings, as mentioned by our delegation leader Thea Tsulukiani, that holding new elections was completely unacceptable to us. To this day, no one has provided any evidence that the elections were rigged”, he noted.

“Unfortunately, no one even looks at the final OSCE/ODIHR report, which states that the elections were competitive, the Central Election Commission administered them at a very high level, and all political entities had the opportunity to conduct their campaigns in a free environment. That alone is enough to consider the elections legitimate. Additionally, the accusations of falsifying 350,000 votes, confiscating ID cards, Russian intelligence interference, and so on. None of these absurd claims were included in the OSCE/ODIHR’s final report”, Machavariani continued.

The official asserted that Wilson was merely echoing the messaging of the collective United National Movement opposition, suggesting that similar resolutions from European institutions, such as the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), followed a pattern of misinformation.

Regarding the opposition's push for early elections, Machavariani rejected the idea outright, saying that “there will be no new elections. The parliamentary elections will be held in 2028, as determined by the Constitution. Similarly, the local elections will take place this October, as scheduled. Our radical opposition should start preparing for the municipal elections now because they will face the same crushing defeat as in the parliamentary elections”.