The MEGOBARI Act will soon become a bill this year. The basis for making this statement is the visits of Lelo-Strong Georgia to Washington last week. Nothing will prevent the implementation of the MEGOBARI Act, although, of course, additional work and efforts are still needed, - Grigol Gegelia, Foreign Secretary of Lelo-Strong Georgia, stated at the briefing, assessing the visit of Lelo-Strong Georgia to Washington.

According to him, Georgian Dream has the only source of gaining legitimacy, and this is the holding of new free parliamentary elections, which both the US and the EU executive branch consider a “critical minimum.”

“The MEGOBARI Act will soon become a bill this year. The basis for saying this is the visits of Lelo-Strong Georgia to Washington last week, during which we held more than 20 high-level meetings. At all meetings, we received confirmation that nothing will prevent the implementation of the MEGOBARI Act, although, of course, additional work and efforts are still needed, which we are systematically taking and will continue to take. Last week, the visit to the United States also served to accelerate the adoption of the MEGOBARI Act, and today, this is one of the important ways to increase pressure on this so-called government, to achieve new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. These two demands – new parliamentary elections and the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners – were our main agenda and strategic line in Washington. At the same time, during consultations in political and analytical circles in Washington, we introduced our partners to the Strong Georgia vision and action plan, which envisages a struggle in all directions, including on the streets – through protests, de facto local elections, participation in more than one additional constituency, and increased pressure on the international arena.

I can tell the public and declare that our partners understand our position absolutely correctly and they express great faith and full support for the significant potential that Georgian democracy and its struggling people have. I would also like to emphasize that Georgian Dream has the only source of gaining legitimacy, which is the holding of new free parliamentary elections. Similar to the US position, we have seen that the EU executive branch, foreign ministers and the European Parliament consider holding new parliamentary elections as a necessary prerequisite and a critical minimum for gaining legitimacy.

However, the immediate adoption of the MEGOBARI Act is important for new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners. The Strong Georgia team continues to work intensively in this direction, and based on our meetings in Washington, I would like to express my belief and hope that this act will be transformed into a draft law this year,” Grigol Gegelia said.