The recent actions of the opposition, their media and non-governmental organizations related to them finally confirm the idea that a repeat of the 2020 scenario is being prepared and a false pretext is being created for the non-recognition of the election results, said Shalva Papuashvili, a member of the Political Council of "Georgian Dream", Chairman of the Parliament, at a briefing held at the party's office.

According to him, provocations on the part of the opposition have increased recently in order to provoke the representatives of "Georgian Dream" to a reaction.

"As you know, last Friday, October 11, the interim report of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission regarding the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26 was published. The report confirmed what the public already sees. The pre-election campaign is taking place in an unprecedentedly calm, free environment, without significant violations, as well as in a competitive environment. The pre-election process is essentially free from violence, bribery, and the use of administrative resources. Violations are only isolated incidents. This was reflected in the OSCE/ODIHR interim report. The report appears to have signaled to the opposition that their plan to delegitimize the election results is in jeopardy. As a result, the second day after the publication of the report, a coordinated campaign of the opposition party media and related non-governmental organizations began, the purpose of which is to create false perceptions of the pre-election environment for international observers with news noise. Let's follow these facts:

First, creating a perception of the use of administrative resources, on which the OSCE/ODIHR interim report does not make any substantive remarks. The day after the publication of the OSCE/ODIHR report, on October 12, a report was broadcast on "TV Pirveli" television belonging to the "Lelo" party, where, based on an anonymous source, it was said, without evidence, that personal data or ID cards were being illegally collected. Referring to this story, on October 14, the non-governmental organization "My Voice" group, which unites politically active non-governmental organizations known to the public, held a briefing where they repeated the same accusations without presenting any evidence.

On October 15, now "Transparency International" and "Fair Elections" made this issue relevant again in the media, also without any evidence. We remind the public that spreading fake news on ID cards is a proven method of the opposition and related non-governmental organizations. We remind you that one week before the presidential elections of 2018, the same non-governmental organizations: "Transparency International", "Fair Elections", "Young Lawyers Association" tried to create a scandal that they seem to have reliable information that the Ministry of Justice was printing fake ID cards.

We remind you of Eka Gigauri's scandalous statement - "Dream started printing fake identity cards, which was provided by the head of the service agency". The prosecutor's office started an investigation into this fact, but the representatives of this non-governmental organization refused to testify and cooperate with the investigation, and this scandal and lies ended there. We also remind you that on October 30, 2021, that is, the day of the local elections, the opposition, namely Tamar Kordzaia, Elene Khoshtaria and others, as well as non-governmental organizations, virally spread photos of ID cards on social media and claimed that they were fake. Later it was also confirmed here that in all cases we were dealing with the spread of fake news. So, a few days before the elections, especially on the election day itself, spreading fake news related to ID cards and personal information is a tried and tested method used by the opposition and their allied non-governmental organizations to influence the will of the voters by sowing panic in the society.

Second, creating a perception of media harassment, on which the OSCE/ODIHR report only notes that the media is polarized. The report does not mention any facts about media harassment. Here, too, there seems to be a feeling in the opposition and related non-governmental sectors or organizations that they need to create panic around this issue, and we have already seen a coordinated campaign. On October 15, the Media Advocacy Coalition, which brings together the same politically active non-governmental organizations that previously served as My Choice, released a statement on the unprecedented challenges facing independent media before the parliamentary elections. As such, they name the reaction of the Communications Regulatory Commission and the court due to the non-posting of the election clip of "Georgian Dream" by "National Movement", "Lelo" and "Akhali" televisions. It is beyond all limits of seriousness that the authors of this statement cannot cite any legal arguments to justify the blocking of the election clip by the party televisions, and they take as a basis the evaluations of the EU ambassador and European parliamentarians.

It should be noted here that it is infuriating when foreign-funded organizations position themselves as local monitoring organizations, instead of mentioning in the report the violation that is being committed against "Georgian Dream", namely that we have already illegally blocked more than 5 hours of advertising time. They hide the facts of creating an unequal electoral environment. On the contrary, this group of non-governmental organizations demands free time for the election clips of the "For Georgia" party, since, according to them, according to the research of "Edison Research", an organization hired by the internationally wanted Davit Kezerashvili, this party has a sufficient rating. I would like to remind you that this is the study that no one in the opposition, apart from the "National Movement" financed by Kezerashvili, claims to trust.

The third circumstance: creating a perception of a violent pre-election environment.

The public sees that the pre-election campaign is taking place in an unprecedentedly peaceful environment. This is also confirmed by the EU/ODIHR interim report. In order to change this situation, provocations from the opposition side have become more frequent recently, in order to provoke the representatives of "Georgian Dream" to a reaction.

You saw that on October 15, Khatia Dekanoidze and Gigi Ugulava damaged the "Georgian Dream" election banner in Kutaisi. In recent days, in general, damage to "Georgian Dream" posters by the opposition has become more frequent. Also, on October 15, in Zugdidi, during the preparation of the "Georgian Dream" event, Emma Gogokhia, a journalist of "Mtavari" television belonging to the "Akhali" party, attacked the staff working on the construction of the stage and verbally insulted them. It is a fact that the purpose of these actions is to provoke the representatives of "Georgian Dream" into retaliatory actions in order to present an unprecedentedly calm election environment as tense in the media.

The above-mentioned actions of the opposition, their media and their related non-governmental organizations finally confirm the idea that a repeat of the 2020 scenario is being prepared and a false pretext for not recognizing the election results is being prepared. Therefore, I especially appeal to the donors of these non-governmental organizations: their responsibility does not end with the transfer of money to the organization, but includes responsibility for the integrity of this organization.

The experience of 2020, when first with the spread of false results of the parallel counting, and then with the joint statement of non-governmental organizations, which were based on such false facts as the announcement of the delay of the results by the Central Election Commission or the imbalance in 8 percent of the precincts, etc., showed us how dangerous it is with democratic processes. Irresponsible game", said Papuashvili.