Zurab Japaridze: I think it’s wrong to call what the regime is planning for October an election — it will be a spectacle staged by the regime, and participating in it means helping the regime

“What the regime is planning for October — I think it’s wrong to call that an election. It will be a spectacle staged by the regime,” said Zurab Japaridze, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” regarding the possible participation of opposition parties in the upcoming local elections.­

According to him, “Georgian Dream” wants to use the local elections to create the appearance of a competitive, multi-party election process, and taking part in it would amount to aiding the ruling party.

“What the regime is planning for October — I believe it is wrong to call that an election. It will be an even worse process than what happened on October 26 — and there were no real elections then either. So we should not call this an election. It will be a staged performance by the regime. In my opinion, participating in it would mean helping the regime, trying to paint a picture of a multi-party, competitive election — as if elections actually exist in this country. We should not take part in this lie.

So far, we see that some political groups are not clearly expressing their position. In the current situation, I cannot imagine anyone choosing to participate in this process,” said Japaridze.

For context, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change,” Nika Melia, recently called on opposition parties to give a clear answer as to whether they will take part in the local self-government elections.

According to Melia, “The time of political ambiguity and vagueness is over. It is time to answer all questions — what are they doing? Are they entering the farce called local elections or not?”