“We couldn’t care less about that commission. Our coalition leaders were the first to refuse to appear before it — they practically slapped them in the face. Led by Tsulukiani, the members of that commission will be put where they belong — in prison, for treason,” said Aleko Elisashvili, one of the leaders of Citizens – Strong Georgia, during an appearance on Palitra News’s “Daily Newsroom.”
He claimed that the parliamentary investigative commission is essentially a treason commission.
"They’re making our job easier. When we change the government, we’ll pick up where that commission left off and use their own work to jail them — starting with Tsulukiani — for betraying the homeland. What they are doing is insulting the Georgian army, veterans, and the state.
They’re wagging their tails for the Russians, doing Russia’s bidding — nothing more. They’re digging up things that stink so badly it turns back on them. There are five people on that commission, two from the United National Movement — one was a deputy interior minister, the other is now ambassador to Armenia.
I remember how Sharmanashvili used to grovel before Saakashvili, he was his bootlicker. He was on the commission that rewrote the Constitution for Saakashvili. What ‘nationals’ are they fighting? The commission is full of them. They’re wallowing in their own stench.
The goal is to damage the state — they want to blame us for starting the war, to say things like ‘Antsukhelidze is not a hero.’ And that disgrace Kobakhidze openly said, ‘We don’t need heroes like Antsukhelidze.’"
Elisashvili also said that Georgian Dream has gone so far that any compromise on their part would mean their collapse.
“If they plan to summon me, they should know — I won’t pay them a single penny. They’re traitors. The day will come when I’ll visit Tsulukiani in prison and bring her some sour yogurt. I’ll bring dried-out bread rolls to that shameless Sozar [Subari], that degraded man.
Why should I bring them good yogurt? Let them gnaw on the sour stuff. Sozar Subari has deteriorated so much — he’s now fighting everything he once stood for. I won’t even bring him sour yogurt.
They’ve gone in so deep that any compromise from them would be the beginning of their collapse. They got themselves into this mess — but now they’ll be forced to compromise.”
He also commented on the decision to abolish the Special Investigation Service and transfer its functions to the Prosecutor General’s Office, saying:
"Back when the country was on the path to the EU, we were taking the right steps. It was a very reasonable decision back then, and major resources were allocated to create that agency so the Prosecutor’s Office wouldn’t have to deal with this headache anymore.
This body was meant to investigate abuses of power by law enforcement, but they’ve cornered themselves so badly that even punishing one police officer would bring the whole system crashing down.
When they travel abroad, they’re asked, ‘Why hasn’t even one police officer been punished, when you have a special body for this?’
And now look at Katsitadze — the UK sanctioned him, left him unpaid, without a card, without a visa. They didn’t want some tough guy putting on a show and acting arrogant.”
Elisashvili also criticized the transfer of the Intelligence Service under the control of the State Security Service, saying:
“They don’t care about this country. The Intelligence Service was working relatively well — they had good analysts.
How can a Prime Minister who thinks in terms of the state just hand over that institution?
This agency was key to containing Russian actions abroad against Georgia and actively working on the non-recognition of the occupied territories.
Now the Russians are probably giving directives like, ‘Get rid of that intelligence service, stop getting in our way.’"
Finally, Elisashvili responded to the ongoing consultations with Paata Burchuladze involving opposition groups and civil society members about holding a public poll by phone during the local elections — asking voters if they support new parliamentary elections and expressing distrust in elections conducted by Georgian Dream.
"I also met with Paata Burchuladze. A plebiscite should be held — not a referendum — to determine whether the population wants new parliamentary elections. This is something Georgian Dream should be offering us.
These are ideas on the table. But I don’t like this format game. I don’t think Burchuladze has a problem with Zurabishvili, or vice versa.
I don’t understand why we need so many platforms. In my view, Zurabishvili is a politician who can bring people together and who has a name beyond Georgia’s borders.
Unfortunately, even at such a critical time, we’re struggling to unite,” Elisashvili said.
v-if="article.gallery" v-html="article.gallery"
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
