Parliament official blames “rootless radicals” for confrontation outside Georgian Dream's campaign office

Irakli Zarkua, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Diaspora and Caucasus Issues, on Tuesday said the confrontation outside the campaign office of Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze had been provoked by “rootless persons”.

In his remarks, Zarkua noted that “what occurred at the headquarters” had been a response to an organised provocation staged by radicals, and foreign embassies in the country should have issued statements regarding the incident.

“What we witnessed yesterday demonstrates that these rootless persons and their sponsors have been preparing for escalation since September. For several days now, young people hired by these groups have been standing near the ruling party’s election office, using obscene language and insulting people. When 15 or 20 persons gather on Rustaveli Avenue, does anyone interfere? But when they came to the ruling party office, insulted, cursed, and provoked, the inevitable happened - that was the provocation. Where are the embassies, the EU Ambassador? Why have they not condemned what has been happening these days? If it had been the other way around, why are they silent now? This is a double standard”, he said.

He further stressed that “no one liked what happened”, but it was clearly a response to provocation, adding that relevant state agencies are already investigating the matter.

Zarkua called on the young people “hired by rootless persons” to avoid being exploited.

“Their goal is to create tension and chaos ahead of the elections. The law and an appropriate response will follow. These were not women standing there, but provocateurs who cursed and insulted. Naturally, there were also young people on the other side who reacted emotionally. The provocation was organised by radicals, and what we saw was a response”, the official noted.

He further accused Western diplomats of remaining silent.

“Embassies are silent, including the EU and German ambassadors. Where are you? Why are you hiding? Are you waiting for Georgians to fight each other so you can later declare there is dictatorship here? You won’t succeed. Because of your failed policies, the European Union collapsed on your heads while Russia became stronger. You are shameless, incompetent, and cowardly, and because of this, fair and objective societies around the world are suffering. If any ambassador dares to speak against our party, we will say ten times more about their shamelessness”, Zarkua concluded.