"Step by step, through open discussion and transparency, we are showing every citizen where the truth lies and where hypocrisy stands.

We know that the people see our truth, our effort, and our determination to protect, preserve, and strengthen the achievements of previous generations," – writes the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, on social media.

According to Papuashvili, today is April 9 – a day of both pain and joy.

In his statement, he emphasizes that "we no longer have the luxury of failure," and "we do not have the right to weakness or complacency."

He adds that it is the duty of an elected government to respect the mandate it has received and to be fully aware of its responsibility to the past, present, and future.

"On April 9, 1991, Georgia’s state independence was declared. The national movement of that time linked the May 26 of the First Republic with April 9 as the key date in the national struggle to create a new independent republic.

The tragedy of April 9, 1989, was first and foremost a terrible loss — marked by the death, injury, and terror inflicted on dozens of innocent people.

That is why Zviad Gamsakhurdia chose this day to immortalize the national movement and the struggle for the state. This is our shared history — one that no one can change or rewrite.

Every sorrow and every joy, every failure and every victory, every mistake and every right decision, wisdom and foolishness — we have gone through all of this together and have arrived at today, decades later, in a time when the turbulent events in the world once again force us to reflect on who we are, who we were yesterday, and where the future is leading us.

The Georgian state — its independence and sovereignty, the nation’s distinctiveness and unique identity — is the central concern of our care.

Many speak this belief in words, but act in the opposite way. Wisdom, intelligence, patience, the ability to measure strength, and courage — not everyone is gifted with this set of qualities by God. That’s why the internal and external struggles for the state have not ended and never will.

Which path is right and better — that is for the Georgian people to decide through direct democracy. The responsibility of the elected government is to protect the mandate it has been given and to fully recognize its responsibility before the past, the present, and the future.

We no longer have the luxury of failure. We do not have the right to be weak or relaxed.

Every path we take, every step and every choice we make is directed toward strengthening the state and uniting society. Step by step, through open discussion and transparency, we are showing every citizen where the truth lies and where hypocrisy stands. We know that the people see our truth, our effort, and our determination to protect, preserve, and strengthen the achievements of previous generations.

Today is April 9 — a day of pain and joy. Today is the Day of the Restoration of Georgia’s Independence,” Papuashvili writes on Facebook.