Shalva Papuashvili: Elene Khoshtaria showed no physical signs of having gone on a hunger strike, the country didn’t feel anything, and neither did the opposition – they are exactly where they were three days ago

I don’t think [Elene Khoshtaria’s hunger strike] changed anything. She showed no physical signs of having fasted, the country didn’t feel anything, and neither did the opposition. They are exactly where they were three days ago, said the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, in a statement to journalists.

He added that if eight parties do not participate in the local self-government elections, another twenty will.

“I don’t want to misstate the number, but I believe around 30 parties took part in the last parliamentary elections. Yesterday, they said there are eight of them who will not participate. They dissolved the coalition again just to inflate the numbers. Sometimes they present themselves as a coalition, and when they need to make the number look bigger, they break it up and list them as separate parties. If eight don’t participate, twenty will. This has absolutely nothing to do with the elections. It’s their own decision whether or not to participate. The Georgian people will come out in October for the local elections, they will have a proper choice, and they will make that choice.

I don’t think [Elene Khoshtaria’s hunger strike] made any difference. She didn’t show any physical signs of fasting, the country didn’t feel that she had fasted, and neither did the opposition. They are exactly where they were three days ago. The only thing that changed is that we now have a new world record for the shortest hunger strike – two days. And we also have a second paradox – the opposition went on a hunger strike against the opposition. In that sense, we may even end up in the world headlines.

Announcing a hunger strike and trying to coerce others by threatening your own life is unethical. That’s what I was trying to explain to the German ambassador – it is unethical when someone uses their own life to blackmail others, and it’s also unethical when others express solidarity with that blackmail,” Papuashvili stated.

For context, Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the "Coalition for Change," and Gedevan Popkhadze ended their hunger strike. This followed a joint statement by eight opposition parties declaring they would not participate in the local self-government elections.