Today, no one has the right to question or put at risk our common achievements - all of us, the Georgian people and their government, will decide together how to shape our own destiny, who to make enemies and friends, and “which star to follow,” writes the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

As Papuashvili notes, independence is the result of daily efforts. According to him, Georgia has been on this path for 34 years and, while overcoming the most difficult obstacles, is trying to strengthen it. “This struggle is not over and will never end.”

“On March 31, 1991, the only question asked in the general referendum, “Do you agree to restore the state independence of Georgia?”, was answered by the population throughout the territory of Georgia - yes!

Based on this unanimous decision, Zviad Gamsakhurdia declared Georgia’s independence nine days after the referendum. Today is also the birthday of the first president, he would have turned 86.

Exactly 70 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the whole of Georgia expressed a clear and unequivocal desire to have state independence, to have sovereignty and to determine its own destiny.

Independence is the result of daily efforts. For 34 years now, Georgia has been on this path and, while overcoming the most difficult obstacles, is trying to strengthen it. This struggle is not over and will never end.

It is and should be the privilege of all generations of Georgia to care for and protect their own state and its strength. That is why, first of all, we must clearly remember what choice we are making, whose heirs we are and where we stand.

On March 31, the Georgian people rejected being in the Soviet Union, its influence and dictatorship. They voted not for a change of master or better slavery, but for independence and its identity. The Georgian nation has fully paid the heavy price for expressing its will, having gone through all the difficult processes that were necessary to gain statehood.

That is why today no one has the right to question or put our common achievements at risk. No one has the right to exchange our independence for new slavery, new vassalage, the influence of a foreign country and their interests, no matter how glaring the subordination to some foreign tribe may seem”, he said.