“Modern Ordzhonikidzes” - Georgian Parliament’s majority leader accuses opposition figure Giorgi Kandelaki of “treasonous campaign” against Georgia’s interests

Irakli Kirtskhalia, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Wednesday sharply criticised a recent study by opposition figure Giorgi Kandelaki, labeling it a targeted attempt to damage the country's international standing.

The study in question claims that Tbilisi has become a fertile ground for Iranian agent recruitment and terrorist operations. Speaking on Imedi TV LIVE talk show, Kirtskhalia dismissed the findings as entirely fabricated and part of a broader, orchestrated campaign directed from abroad.

“The goal is very simple. It is to damage our country's interests from the outside in every possible way, using every available means, by modern-day Sergo Ordzhonikidzes”, he added, invoking the name of the notorious Georgian Bolshevik who facilitated the Soviet takeover of Georgia in 1921.

The majority leader further claimed that Kandelaki has a long history of working against Georgia’s national interests, pointing back to the period before the country secured visa-free travel with the European Union.

“He was running from office to office, saying: ‘How can you allow this? The Georgian Dream will take credit for it, so do not give this benefit to our country’. This was the beginning of his treacherous political activity. Later, certain bureaucrats and politicians probably realised he would be useful for the dirtiest forms of betrayal and kept him under contract from that time”, he continued.

Kirtskhalia further claimed that Kandelaki was the person whose non-governmental organisation had received a grant from the French Embassy during the adoption of the foreign grants law for mapping tourist trails.