“First, I want to get an answer from Tea Tsulukiani – will she come to Rustaveli or not? The purpose of this commission is to talk about everything except the crisis and problems facing society.

Let her come and bring her commission members too!” – said Giorgi Vashadze, leader of “Strategy Aghmashenebeli,” during the “Day's Newsroom” program on PalitraNews. He made this statement in response to being summoned to today’s session of the temporary investigative commission of the Georgian Parliament, which is examining “the activities of the regime in power from 2003–2012, including current and former political figures and parties associated with it.”

According to Vashadze, “Tea Tsulukiani should answer why so many people are in political imprisonment and explain why young people were beaten by police officers in December.”

“This Parliament is illegitimate, and therefore anything it creates is also illegitimate. The Constitution does not allow the formation of an investigative commission without the opposition, so we’re dealing with double illegality. I haven’t officially refused yet – first, I want to hear whether Tea Tsulukiani will come to Rustaveli or not. I haven’t received any official notice or letter. Let her first explain why there are so many political prisoners. Let her talk to their parents. Let her say why young people were beaten in December. She boasts about Strasbourg, but even there, she was kicked out when she showed up with a pitiful delegation. What Strasbourg standard do the laws they pass even meet? There is a severe political and economic crisis in the country, and the commission’s goal is to distract from that. Let her show up – and bring her commission members too!”

“They’ll eventually have to call new elections. What they’re doing now is just preparing for that scenario, which only proves how weak they are. If they weren’t afraid of the people, would they be silencing TV stations and fighting the public? If you're strong, why are you fighting against citizens, the media, and NGOs? Go ahead and call elections! They’re attacking on four fronts – banning parties and NGOs, restricting the media and protests. Even though ‘Georgian Dream’ blames us for all the problems, it doesn’t matter what these power-hungry, shameful, and lost people say.”

“Can you imagine if the entire political spectrum ends up in prison? What happens next? Would anyone even need to ask whether sanctions are justified? Arresting an active politician would create huge resonance. Do they think they’ll be able to travel abroad afterward? All aid will stop, Georgia will be disconnected from SWIFT, and the economy will collapse. It will cause such chaos that maybe they should do it – let’s see what happens to them. They’ll crash so hard, they might never recover.”

As for other issues, Vashadze also addressed the UK’s sanctions on heads of Georgia’s law enforcement agencies. In his view, these sanctions are “a step closer to the core of the problem.”

“British sanctions are a serious blow to them – just look at the faces of Kobakhidze and the judges in court. And it’s clear that loyalty means nothing to them – the head of patrol police who was sanctioned was fired. Britain is not going to stop here – just wait for Germany! The issue of sanctioning Ivanishvili and Rukhadze is already on the table in the UK. These British sanctions are even stronger than those from the U.S., because Georgian banks are represented there. They know that if they serve sanctioned individuals, they themselves will be at risk of sanctions. Even Cartu Bank, which is owned by Ivanishvili, won’t open accounts for these people. Yesterday’s sanctioned individuals – that’s getting very close to the main pressure point,” said Vashadze.

He also commented on the events of April 9, saying this week has been “catastrophic” for Georgian Dream.

“This week has been catastrophic for them – they couldn’t even go to the April 9 memorial. That’s a moral collapse. They can’t stand next to the families of political prisoners because they have nothing to say. What worse could the occupying regime have done that they haven’t? They’re leaving us without strong Europe and the U.S., halting Euro-integration. The families of political prisoners were waiting for him [at the memorial], and he dares to call himself Prime Minister, yet can’t even speak to Georgian citizens. He can’t even show up on New Year’s Eve, can’t light a Christmas tree, and can’t go to the April 9 memorial. Ask yourself – what did you do so wrong? Parents were waiting for you – you could have gone and said, ‘Let’s reconcile and release the youth from prison.’ That would have been a state-minded move. You could have used April 9 for national reconciliation – but instead, you can’t mention the Soviet Union, Russia, or the victims.”