Georgian Parliament official says ruling party does not view opposition as political competitors but as actors working against Georgia’s statehood, sovereignty

Archil Gorduladze, the chair of the Georgian Parliament’s legal affairs committee, on Wednesday said the ruling Georgian Dream party does not view the opposition as political competitors but as actors working against Georgia’s statehood and sovereignty.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Gorduladze criticised opposition forces, claiming they were united around external interests and were seeking to return the country to a period of foreign influence.

“We do not have opponents - these people are opponents of Georgia’s statehood and are fighting against Georgia as an independent and sovereign country”, he said.

“They want the country to once again become obedient to external forces, as it was between 2003 and 2012, which will not happen. As for such mergers [of opposition forces] or separations, this is a well-rehearsed show staged by powerful forces, which we call the global war party. Those who have now united were in fact already united around one idea - and that idea is to dance to someone else’s tune, to kneel before those who wish this country ill, to receive their instructions and attempt to carry them out”, he continued.

The official also referenced former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia and the opposition party Lelo, asserting that attempts were being made to visually separate them from the United National Movement, even though, in his view, they remain politically aligned.

“Each of them was, at different times, a member of the United National Movement or closely associated with it. This is one group united against Georgia, and their patrons have one plan - somehow to wash away the enormous burden and crime of betrayal associated with Gakharia, Lelo, and the United National Movement, and they are trying to position this new alliance on one side, while placing Gakharia’s team and Lelo on the other, as if they are not part of the National Movement. They know very well that the United National Movement will never come to power in Georgia, and they are trying to separate them visually, though not substantively. That is why Lelo and Gakharia’s National Movement members did not join this unity”, he said.

Gorduladze further suggested that if such forces were in power today, Georgia could have been drawn into military conflict.

“Of course, each such step is doomed to failure, because the real goal of the collective National Movement - this group of agents - always has been and always will be to have obedient and dependent individuals in power. Let us reflect for a moment: if these individuals were leading Georgia today, how many times would they have pushed the country into the abyss of war? How many times would they have sacrificed Georgia’s population to the bloodshed that, unfortunately, is unfolding in various countries across our region?” Gorduladze concluded.