Georgian Parliament official: domestic opposition has “long-standing tradition” of hostility toward Trump administration

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, on Monday said that what he described as “hatred toward the Trump administration” has been a long-standing tradition among opposition political forces in Georgia.

Ionatamishvili made the remarks while responding to comments by opposition politician Zurab Japaridze, who criticised the US administration of Donald Trump, arguing that it is not sufficiently focused on democracy and human rights.

He emphasised that such attitudes are not new and have been consistently demonstrated over the years.

“Sometimes they act hypocritically, as if they are changing their character, but their nature, of course, remains unchanged. Therefore, in reality, this is entirely the statement and position of these radical groups, and not only of Girchi or Japaridze. And no matter how they try to justify themselves now, in 2-3 days we will see that they will repeat the same thing”, he concluded.