Georgian Parliament official: Georgia lacks opposition that challenges Gov’t, not state

Davit Matikashvili, the Chair of the Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said that Georgia effectively does not have a functioning opposition that acts against the Government rather than against the interests of the country, describing the situation as a “major problem” for the democratic system.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Matikashvili discussed the state of political opposition in Georgia and internal tensions among opposition groups.

“The existence of an opposition is an essential component of a democratic system. It is our regret that in Georgia there is effectively no opposition that would be an opposition to the government rather than to the country”, he said.

He further claimed that opposition groups were engaged in internal conflicts, mutual accusations, and personal attacks, which he presented as evidence of their political weakness.

“As for the developments within the opposition, the radicals tried to hide the problem, but in the end the problem revealed itself. Completely incompetent, very weak, and incapable radical opposition politicians are only busy trying to please their foreign patrons and staging improvised protests to gain approval. In this situation, pointing fingers at each other, insulting one another with harsh words, and showing no mercy toward each other - this is the face of today’s radical Georgian opposition”, Matikashvili concluded.