Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker: Gov’t will not allow chaos, October 5 will mark failure of opposition’s plans

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament and Chair of the Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission examining crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012, on Friday said the destructive opposition and their small group of supporters would not succeed in creating unrest in the country, as the state was resolute and the majority of society was opposing chaos, coups, and war.

In her remarks, Tsulukiani noted that the Georgian Government would not tolerate unrest, and that many of the opposition’s actions and statements may contain signs of criminal activity.

“The state is, of course, steadfast and resolute. The Georgian Dream Government has no intention of tolerating any unrest, and no chaos can be part of anyone’s plans. However, their behaviour, starting with their statements and the actions based on those statements, likely contains signs of criminal activity in many cases”, the official said.

“I understand that the small group of young people still out on the streets believe in something, but they need to be cautious when making statements. Calling for or organising an overthrow, whether it’s peaceful or less peaceful, is a matter of terminology, but a peaceful overthrow does not exist, of course. In specific cases, combined with other circumstances, it may contain signs of criminal activity. Therefore, young people, above all, need to exercise caution and not fully trust politicians who have become radicalised, whose only plan is to return to power and repeat what is outlined in the commission’s report”, she continued.

The Vice Speaker emphasised that the Parliament’s newly published report on the “Rose Revolution”, which characterised it as a coup, outlined eight attempts to violently overthrow the constitutional order and noted that the current events mirror those scenarios but would not succeed.

“When you read those pages, regardless of what we may remember or know, the process unfolding from 2012 to today closely mirrors the plans and scenarios that developed during the ‘Rose Revolution’, which the report characterises as a coup, not a revolution. This report is valuable to me personally because, based on facts, we demonstrated that the Rose Revolution was a state coup. All of this is documented with facts, actions, and evidence. Accordingly, we are in the same scenario in the period leading up to October 4. This is their desire and scenario, but of course, the state will not allow it, and it simply will not happen. The state is resolute and stronger than it was in 2003”, Tsulukiani continued.

She further noted that the “vast majority of our society” was against chaos, state coups, war, bloodshed, and destabilisation.

“However, this is not the only reason why the destructive opposition and their small group of supporters will not succeed in creating unrest. The main reason is that the vast majority of our society is against chaos, state coups, war, bloodshed, and destabilisation. It is precisely in accordance with their will that the state acts, and it now has the capability and experience to do so. Therefore, the convergence of these various factors, which is evident, simply rules out unrest. If the other side still has any logic left, those in Rustavi [prison] have more time and peace to think, and October 5 is doomed to failure”, she concluded.