"When a political force withdraws from the fight and, on the contrary, does not engage, seeking to normalize the regime, including by easing international pressure, of course, that force will face a corresponding reaction and response, including from our political force," stated Irakli Pavlenishvili, Deputy General Secretary of the "National Movement," in response to a letter from Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of "Lelo – Strong Georgia," written from prison. In the letter, Khazaradze stated that "certain representatives of opposition parties have targeted 'Lelo'" and are even planning a campaign against it.

According to Pavlenishvili, it is the political forces planning to cooperate with the so-called government in the future and rejecting the policy of boycott and non-cooperation that need to adjust their focus.

"We are talking about a person who is a political prisoner, but being a political prisoner does not grant immunity to his political force. When a political force withdraws from the fight and, on the contrary, does not engage, seeking to normalize the regime, including by easing international pressure, in such a case, of course, that force will face a corresponding reaction and response, including from our political force. This is not an attack; it is simply a statement of fact. If anyone thinks we will remain silent when they betray the common fight and protest, they are gravely mistaken.

The focus needs to be adjusted by those political forces that betray the course recognized and chosen by political prisoners and opposition forces, those who plan to cooperate with the so-called government in the future, reject the policy of boycott and non-cooperation, and no longer claim that the elections are annulled. These people need to adjust their focus, and we should be the ones calling on them to do so. But ultimately, it turns out that they dare to say that we are the ones who need to adjust our focus," Pavlenishvili stated.

He also commented on a statement by Elguja Khokrishvili, a member of "Gakharia for Georgia," who said he does not support the participation of opposition parties in local elections.

"Gakharia’s party has always stood out for not fully shedding its 'Georgian Dream' identity, but there are people in that party who, it seems, take a more sensible position. This is understandable because they are citizens of this country and see what is happening," Pavlenishvili said.

For context, Mamuka Khazaradze released a letter from prison in which he stated that, even in a restricted information environment, he senses that certain representatives of opposition parties have targeted "Lelo" and are even planning a campaign against it.

"I don’t know why anyone decided that it’s possible to influence us in this way?! To put it mildly, it’s unfortunate, and no such pressure or campaign will affect our decision, whether someone likes it or not!

Our goal in this country has been and remains to change the political system and the regime! The two main demands for this have been and remain paramount – achieving new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. Until then, we need to approach this rationally, not with emotional calls.

We believe that we should not surrender any platform to 'Georgian Dream' without a fight, no matter how unequal it may be. The Georgian struggle is known precisely for such unequal battles. It is through such unequal battles that our Georgian statehood has been preserved. This is a process, not a one-time act where we wake up and find everything changed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way," Khazaradze wrote.