Tato Kelbakiani: On July 19, there will be a demonstration showing that a significant part of the political spectrum, civil society, and students reject the Russian special operation planned for October 4 and any cooperation with the Russian regime

Tato Kelbakiani, co-organizer of the protest planned for July 19 and chairman of the organization “Prevention for Progress,” stated on PalitraNews’s program “Day’s Newsroom”:

“On July 19, there will be a demonstration showing that a significant part of the political spectrum, civil society, and students reject the Russian special operation planned for October 4 and any cooperation with the Russian regime. In this context, participating in these elections means giving a form of legitimacy to a violent government — you’re throwing it a lifeline to cling to and regain some color.”

Kelbakiani explained that the aim of the protest is to make it clear to the public that participation in a political farce is unacceptable.

“On July 19, we will demonstrate our commitment to continuing an uncompromising struggle against the regime!”

“Our opponent is the Russian regime and the enclave it has formed — not our fellow colleagues who may have chosen the wrong path. There’s still a window for them to reconsider their decision.”

“We must explain to the public that participating in this farce is unacceptable. Don’t think I don’t want change through elections — I’ve worked as an observer, we had some tools, but even then I saw the insane scale of fraud with my own eyes.”

He stressed that this time, even those minimal conditions won’t exist:

“There won’t even be observers at these elections — OSCE/ODIHR won’t be present, and the government is persecuting the few local organizations that were actually monitoring elections. They’ll allow in controlled groups — ‘GONGOs’ — but real observers won’t be there, and filming won’t be allowed. So I don’t understand why anyone would participate in such a farce. If there were at least minimal standards, that would be one thing…”

“I support changing the government through elections, but elections must be held in a fair environment, with basic rules of the game. Entering these elections under the current conditions is giving legitimacy to a violent regime — you’re handing them a lifeline to grab onto and slightly recover. Why give them breathing room when you can instead increase the pressure?”

Kelbakiani added that even if hypothetically the entire opposition had united ahead of the elections, the process still lacks public trust:

“Polls show that a large majority of society distrusts the process. Only about 20% of opposition-leaning voters are still considering participating in the election — the other 80% are not.”

He concluded by saying that when the government leaves no choice, there must be a parallel process to exert peaceful pressure:

"There are various ideas and initiatives. A position on this will be formed soon. The parallel process must be organized in such a way that October 4 becomes the culmination of a different kind of movement.”