Zviad Dzidziguri: What does Kobakhidze know? Today we were gathered at the party office, we talked a lot, including about these topics, and there will be no announcement at the end of the month about whether we will participate in the elections or not — it's not going to happen and it’s not being planned

"What does Kobakhidze know?" Today we were gathered at the party office, we had a long discussion, including on this topic as well, and there will be no announcement at the end of the month about whether we will participate in the elections or not — it’s neither planned nor expected.

That’s how Zviad Dzidziguri, one of the leaders of the “For Georgia” party, responded on PalitraNews' program 360 Degrees to Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s statement, in which he claimed that Giorgi Gakharia would make a statement regarding his participation in the elections by the end of the month.

Dzidziguri also clarified that participation in the elections has nothing to do with legitimizing the government:

"I will tell you what our party’s position is — our party believes that the local self-government elections are a tool. Whether opposition parties should use this tool or not is a question with many pros and cons.

Right now, in the Georgian public space, there is no real debate about the pros and cons of participating in local self-government elections. What we mostly see is bullying — if someone dares to say that they haven’t yet decided whether they will participate or not, or even if they don’t express a clear boycott stance, they get bullied. There is no calm, open discussion without tension, accusations, or insults — and I believe that’s not a normal situation.

These elections are just like any other political event in the political life of the country. Moreover, they are defined by the Constitution. Holding these elections has nothing to do with legitimizing the de facto government.

In Tbilisi, 250,000 voters decide who becomes mayor. More than 300,000 people have shown up at protest rallies. If we manage to convince the voters that by turning out in Tbilisi and other big cities, we can take away an important tool from the government — then participating in the elections makes sense. If we cannot achieve that, then participation becomes very uncertain and questionable," Dzidziguri stated.