Gigi Gigiaze: The new American administration, which is trying to establish contact, is being refused - the refusal to negotiate and the cutting off of all channels in this crisis situation is symptomatic

The head of the Center for Economic Policy Research, Gigi Gigiaze, stated that the congratulatory letter allegedly sent in the name of U.S. President Donald Trump to Mikheil Kavelashvili for Georgia’s Independence Day should be published as an official document.

As Gigiaze noted on PalitraNews’ “Resume” program, if “Georgian Dream” truly has an authentic version of the letter, they would have already made it public.

“I tried to find an official document – unfortunately, I was unable to do so. It’s not available on the official website or the Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy. The only thing we have is the text published on Kimberly Law’s website. No one is publishing the official version of this text, and I think it’s a bit unserious to accept it as an official document. It doesn’t have titles, official greeting forms, or a signature. It would be desirable, if an official congratulatory document exists, for the public to see it. I believe ‘Georgian Dream’ doesn’t have it either, because if they did, they would have published it by now. The publication of this text was significantly delayed. It would be interesting to see the original text in English,” said Gigiaze.

In the program, Gigiaze also commented on the statement released by the U.S. Embassy, according to which “Georgian Dream” honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili refused to meet with U.S. Ambassador Robin Dunnigan.

According to Gigiaze, the refusal to negotiate and the severing of ties with Western channels is symptomatic and yet another indication of the deepening political crisis.

“The new American administration, which is trying to establish contact, is being refused. This in itself sends a specific message. If Ivanishvili had agreed to this meeting, he would have had the opportunity to discuss any issue. The refusal to negotiate and the cutting off of all channels in this crisis situation is symptomatic. In reality, the political crisis in Georgia is deepening. We hear that they plan to ban opposition parties; essentially, we are moving away from civilization in big steps and entering a new reality that Georgia has never seen before. Despite this reality, the West is trying to take clear steps, to extend a hand and offer dialogue. But we are seeing a direct refusal of this dialogue,” said Gigiaze.