Georgian Parliament official: opposition has no other option but to participate in local elections

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said the domestic opposition knew they had no alternative but to participate in the upcoming local elections scheduled for October.

In his remarks, Samkharadze noted that the opposition was seeking to delay the process in order to ease their supporters into accepting the idea that participating in the elections was necessary.

“They know they have no other choice and must participate in the elections. They are seeking to delay the process in order to ease their supporters into accepting the idea that participating in the elections is necessary”, he told journalists.

The official further claimed the opposition was afraid to say it openly as their voters would be outraged after being misled for so long and kept in the streets with false promises.

“We all know the saying “a lie has no legs” - we learn that from childhood. The opposition fears a fair backlash from their own voters, whom they’ve deceived for years. Now they understand that they must participate in the elections. They’re trying to win time and slowly ease their supporters into accepting that participation is inevitable. They’re doing it in stages because they are afraid to say it directly - and rightly so - because they will face the anger of the people they kept misled in the streets with false promises”, Samkharadze concluded.