Shalva Papuashvili: If the boycott declared by the radical opposition has harmed anyone and led to a political grave, it is the radical opposition itself

If the boycott declared by the radical opposition has harmed anyone and led to a political grave, it is the radical opposition itself, - the Speaker of the Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, notes in a statement released on social media.

As stated in his statement, six months after the elections, the Georgian Dream party has restored the public's faith in victory and has clearly shown not only its voters, but also the opposition electorate, that the Georgian Dream party serves only Georgia and its national interests.

“Six months have passed since the parliamentary elections of October 26, 2024. Contrary to the expectations of skeptics and ill-wishers, the 11th Parliament of Georgia is fully fulfilling its assigned duties, and if the boycott declared by the radical opposition has damaged anyone and led to a political grave, it is the radical opposition itself.

Georgia, both the state and its citizens, have learned a very important lesson in the past period, which is important to summarize. The short memory of some people is used to rewriting history and adapting it to their own agenda, which, naturally, we will not allow.

Referendum

We remember that the opposition called the last parliamentary elections a referendum and said that the country must choose between Europe and Russia. This campaign was launched by Salome Zurabishvili in the first days of March 2024 and she announced the involvement of foreign and non-governmental organizations in it. Eventually, all opposition parties and NGO leaders came under this vision and opposed, in the name of Europe, the government that had done the most on the path to European integration.

The Georgian government accepted this challenge. Let there be a referendum, we said. But we explained to the people what a referendum really is. The Georgian Dream campaign was based on sharing this vision. People had to choose between the past and the future, between the threat of war and peace, between discredited, guilty politicians and responsible authorities, between seeking a source of power outside the country and the will of the people, between foreign influence and identity. And many more similar poles between them, which are uniquely and unambiguously embodied by the collective radical opposition and the Georgian Dream.

Foreign Influence

What we saw was unprecedented and different from other previous elections - the open and direct involvement of foreign countries in the Georgian political process and the undisguised influence on the will of the people. In addition to the fact that this is explicitly prohibited by law, in the open and free competition between Georgian political forces, some diplomatic missions took an unequivocal side in favor of the opposition and directly addressed their statements to change the government in the country.

In addition to direct agitation and calls, as the elections approached, direct hints and threats appeared that an undesirable outcome of the elections would entail appropriate punitive consequences, sanctions, suspension of visa liberalization, and the use of other instruments. In unison with diplomatic representatives, a number of odious figures from the parliaments of various capitals were exerting a much more rigid and persistent influence on the internal political process of Georgia, which the opposition-owned media perceived as a completely European position.

Polarization

Such interference and radicalization in the election process created a completely polarized environment, where the citizens of the country, instead of choosing the desired party in a calm, constructive environment, found themselves dragged into a completely polarized, apocalyptic situation that was supposed to decide the fate of the country. This artificial polarization required the government to take a well-thought-out action, to conduct an election campaign with one hand, defend its own vision and position, talk to the people, and with the other hand ensure a fair environment and conduct elections under equal and transparent conditions”, reads the statement.

According to him, “the immediate goal is obviously to win local elections”.

“The global “deep state”, which has a huge influence on states and corporations, manages to pursue its own interests by coordinating its influence in the developed countries of the world. The Georgian opposition, unfortunately, has become a blind tool of this foreign global interest and has opposed the real, Georgian, native experience”, he says in the statement.