Georgian Parliament official dismisses opposition alliance as “illusory”, predicts defeat for “agents” in upcoming local elections

David Matikashvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, on Monday sharply criticised the newly formed alliance between the opposition Lelo for Georgia and For Georgia parties ahead of the upcoming local elections. Matikashvili dismissed the opposition's efforts as “illusory”, asserting that radicals and agents uniting in their hatred for their own country was nothing new.

The remarks follow the recent signing of a memorandum of cooperation between Lelo and Gakharia’s party for the October 4 elections.

Matikashvili claimed that both parties hold an “illusory idea” that they can defeat the ruling Georgian Dream party, despite their extremely low ratings.

“The elections are coming very soon. The approval ratings of all parties will be measured once again, and it will be confirmed that agents have no place on Georgia’s political stage. Of course, this will be reflected in the minimal support they receive. Let’s not forget that the support they once had in parliamentary elections was completely diminished. They are betraying not only their homeland, but also the people who once supported them”, Matikashvili said.

“There is a clear explanation for all of this - society knows very well that the ‘deep state’ struggles to implement its own decisions. Deceiving the Georgian people and throwing dust in their eyes is impossible. They keep trying different approaches, hoping that a crack will appear somewhere so they can exploit it and implement their revanchist ideas”, he noted.

Matikashvili further added that this scenario was clear, there was the orthodox UNM caste, which claimed it won’t participate in elections and remains in boycott mode.

“Then there is another group that says it will participate and has signed a memorandum - this is yet another attempt to mislead the public. In other words, there’s an effort to create a sharp distinction between these two forces so that Lelo and Gakharia appear separate from the UNM, which is burdened with sins and crimes, and are perceived as some kind of centrist power. But no memorandum will save them”, he concluded.