Salome Samadashvili: The political process should take place alongside the protest. I do not believe that any politician should lead the protest, said Salome Samadashvili, one of the leaders of the coalition "Strong Georgia," while discussing the opposition's role in the ongoing protests in the country.

As Samadashvili stated on Palitra News’ program “360 Degrees”, the more horizontal the protest is, the better.

“The opposition is working not only on the foreign policy front but also as four political groups, we have the most effective foreign front. We are achieving what an entire ministry would probably be working on. This is not only about Washington; today, the opposition is working on various directions in the foreign front. Of course, Salome Zurabishvili’s role is significant, but the role of systematic work is even greater.

The political process should take place alongside the protest. I do not believe that any politician should lead the protest. A good example of this is Belarus, where a protest leader emerged—Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya—who was then forced to leave the country, which ended the protest. Therefore, on the contrary, the more horizontal this process is, the better,” Samadashvili said.

According to Samadashvili, the fact that “the rigged elections were not recognized” was the result of coordinated positioning by four political parties.

“These four alliances today represent around one million voters. We must remember that the rigged elections were not recognized because of the coordinated positioning of these four victorious parties, who declared that they did not accept the election results.

One of the main topics currently under discussion is the models—there are various opinions: whether new elections can be held using the same electronic system. There is also an opinion that the old system is better. In my view, agreement on these models is essential because we must act according to a unified agenda,” Samadashvili said.

Additionally, Samadashvili commented on the Public Defender Levan Ioseliani’s assessments of the October 26 elections, stating that no one doubts the elections were rigged, except for Ioseliani, Georgian Dream, and Russia.

“I did not expect Levan Ioseliani to be the Public Defender because I had not seen Mamuka Mdinaradze’s face as happy as it was the day they chose Ioseliani as the Public Defender. They knew he would be a controlled individual. Everyone, including our partners, knows that none of his words carry weight.

No one doubts the elections were rigged, except for Ioseliani, Georgian Dream, and the Russians, who claim the elections were the best in the country.

In her opinion, Georgian Dream will make concessions under two conditions: external and internal pressure.

“The opposition has daily communication. We understand that this government will ultimately make concessions only if two factors are present: external pressure and internal resistance. An autocratic system like this, which controls so many components, cannot be overcome by the opposition alone unless there is broad public resistance,” Samadashvili concluded.