Georgian Parliament Speaker says May 26 opposition rally showed “Georgia deserves better opposition”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said that the May 26 protest rally marked a “verdict” for Georgia’s radical opposition, claiming that the several thousand people gathered around opposition groups represent a “Facebook bubble” rather than broader public support.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that the demonstration showed Georgia “deserves a better opposition”.

“Last evening was the final chord proving that Georgia truly deserves a better opposition. As the saying goes, no matter how much you try to hide a disease, it will eventually reveal itself. Yesterday, we saw the rally of the United National Movement in all of its aesthetics - its banners, slogans, and faces”, the Speaker said.

He further claimed the event had been organised by imprisoned ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili and former senior officials of his government, including Nika Gvaramia, Giga Bokeria and Giorgi Vashadze.

Papuashvili added that the rally demonstrated an attempt to divide society and “poison” Independence Day celebrations.

“We saw their attempts yesterday to somehow create a radical momentum, but they no longer even have that energy and have lost it a long time ago. I think yesterday was a verdict for the radical opposition. Those several thousand people gathered around them are exactly that Facebook bubble which imagines itself to be society, while in reality it is just one Facebook friends list”, he noted.

The Parliament Speaker further added that it was “symbolic” that while the public was celebrating sovereignty on Independence Day, the radical opposition was engaged in “vassal behaviour” aimed at fulfilling the instructions of foreign actors.

“They recently admitted that they organise such events in order to show others and have heads counted, as they themselves said, so that their patronage continues. This is the ideology of the UNM”, Papuashvili concluded.