Akaki Bobokhidze: The October 4 elections are illegitimate; there’s no point in even talking about a boycott because there is no real process; I hope Gakharia and “Lelo” will change their decision — it’s never too late to correct a mistake

“We are not planning a boycott—the October 4 elections are illegitimate! These elections simply do not exist!” said Akaki Bobokhidze, a representative of the “European Georgia” party, on the TV program “Day’s Newsroom” by PalitraNews.

As Bobokhidze explained, the political associations that are not participating in the local elections are not planning a boycott campaign but rather a campaign focused on “how to exert pressure on the regime, both domestically and internationally, to force it to hold new, fair elections.”

“The word ‘boycott’ has been used as a term by several opposition parties, but what we are planning is not a boycott in essence. We are not planning a boycott. The October 4 elections are simply illegitimate—these elections do not exist! Elections held by an illegitimate government in an unfair environment cannot be considered elections. A boycott can be declared against a legitimate process if you deem it inexpedient as a political step. In this case, we cannot even talk about a boycott because the process simply does not exist—there are no fair elections in this country, neither legally nor factually.

I hope that Giorgi Gakharia’s party and ‘Lelo for Strong Georgia’ are mistaken and will change their decision to participate in the elections until the last moment. I hope they are mistaken and that there is no other motive. It is never too late to correct a mistake,” Bobokhidze stated.

Bobokhidze also spoke about the role of opposition parties, noting that the support from the West is a result of the opposition’s efforts.

“Despite the public’s dissatisfaction with the opposition, the support that exists in the West is not independent of the opposition’s work—it is precisely the result of the opposition’s efforts. Therefore, let’s not completely dismiss the opposition.

Today, during this period of immense changes, since the power does not represent the Georgian people externally, we need someone to represent them—and that someone is precisely the opposition.

It would be preferable to have more coordination. Fortunately, eight parties managed to come together and sit down as one. I hope that the parties that are supposedly planning to participate in the elections will join us. If they do participate, they will harm us, but the process will continue regardless, though we will lose the small portion they represent,” Bobokhidze stated.