Georgian Dream’s main goal is to bait someone—some with kind words, some with threats, and others with different treatment—to drag them into the battle for local self-government elections.

This is what Tengiz (Tengo) Tevzadze, a member of the Coalition for Change, stated during his appearance on Palitra News’ program Day Newsroom.

According to him, Coalition for Change and United National Movement were the two opposition parties that received significant support in the regions.

“Georgian Dream’s main goal is to bait someone—some with kind words, some with threats, and others with different treatment—and drag them into the battle for the local elections. Without us, how can they win Tbilisi when, in the last parliamentary elections, our rating in the majoritarian districts was 16%, and now in Tbilisi it’s around 18-20%? How can any of them win Tbilisi without us, or how can they win municipalities with small populations without the two opposition parties that gained major support in those areas—Coalition for Change and United National Movement?” said Tevzadze.

Regarding the participation of Gakharia For Georgia in the local elections, Tevzadze noted:

“If Gakharia’s party wants to be in the opposition, they must mentally leave Georgian Dream. They must abandon the Russian, authoritarian, human-rights-violating mindset. You can’t accuse Kalantarishvili of being a criminal and falsifier one month, and then, a month later, participate in elections organized by him. You must be consistent. They still don’t realize they are in the opposition. If they don’t leave Georgian Dream, the same thing that happened with the investigative commission will happen to them.”

Responding to Mamuka Khazaradze’s statement that he does not want to hand over Tbilisi to Kakha Kaladze without a fight, Tevzadze added:

“If anyone truly fought against Kaladze, if anyone bled Georgian Dream dry in the 2014 mayoral race, it was the chairman of our party—Nika Melia.”

“We are ready to sit down and discuss everything with arguments. Invite us, and we’ll explain our role with facts. But they must explain why this [debate] was considered a planted topic by the State Security Service two months ago and now suddenly it’s, as one of them said, ‘a God-given opportunity.’ That must be clarified,” said Tevzadze.

Regarding Nika Gvaramia’s upcoming court hearing on June 13, Tevzadze emphasized that no one is afraid of being arrested or imprisoned.

“The deadline for paying Nika Gvaramia’s bail expired on June 7. He had stated, like Nika Melia and Zurab Japaridze, that he wouldn’t pay. The Prosecutor’s Office essentially announced that it wouldn’t arrest him before the 13th. But we remember how Nika Melia was abducted one day before his hearing. To this day, no one knows why or based on what they deprived him of freedom—completely unlawfully and in violation of human rights. There’s still no official document provided to his lawyers.”

“No one is afraid of arrest or imprisonment. The so-called investigative commission and the farce carried out by Tsulukiani and the illegitimate parliament are unconstitutional in two ways: first, they violate the Georgian Constitution and parliamentary regulations, and second, an investigative commission must look into specific facts—not the entire 21st century. Tsulukiani is busy gossiping about recent history. Eventually, they will find themselves being interrogated by a real investigative commission in a legitimate parliament. They will have to answer, for example, why they are trying to blame Georgia for the war, or why they are trying to arrest opposition leaders on fabricated charges,” Tevzadze said.

He concluded by stating: “The arrest of four opposition leaders is too many for Georgian Dream. They will pay the price—politically and criminally.”