Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen: NGOs, opposition parties operated as single political force under different names

Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday claimed that non-governmental organizations and opposition parties in Georgia operated as a single political force under different names, alleging that they acted on instructions from foreign sponsors to influence government decisions.

Kaladze made the remarks in response to a journalist’s question about the dispute between Eka Gigauri, head of Transparency International Georgia, and Tamar Chergoleishvili, leader of the Federalists party.

“We openly began saying that there was no genuine NGO sector or separate political parties in reality - they were all part of one force. They simply operated under different names because that was what their foreign patrons needed”, Kaladze said.

According to Kaladze, organizations that presented themselves as independent NGOs and political experts were, in fact, involved in political activities, intervened in decision-making and carried out instructions from abroad.

“They had their own representatives. Organizations that claimed to be independent NGOs were, in reality, acting like ordinary political parties. They interfered in political decisions, received specific instructions from abroad and carried them out. Naturally, these were hostile instructions directed against the country and the Georgian state”, he said.

Kaladze added that the ruling party had been raising these concerns for several years, arguing that recent public disputes between individuals associated with these organizations had brought their alleged connections and political rivalries into the open.

“Many people did not believe us, but now they are admitting these things themselves and describing what was really happening - the conflicts between them and how they were fighting against one another, the Georgian state, our statehood and the interests of the Georgian people”, Kaladze said.

He further claimed that the phenomenon was not limited to Georgia, describing it as a method used by external forces, which he referred to as the deep state, to maintain influence over governments in countries where they have political interests.

“Some presented themselves as representatives of NGOs, while others claimed to be experts. They were also funded from abroad. This was not happening only in Georgia; it was a method used by external forces to ensure that countries in which they have political interests had their own agents in Government”, Kaladze concluded.