The months-long effort by foreign officials to strengthen Salome Zurabishvili’s image as the “legitimate” president was supposed to play its role – the coup plotters were supposed to take Zurabishvili to the presidential palace and start a “revolution,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili writes on social media.

According to Shalva Papuashvili, Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, criticized the “storming” of the presidential palace not because breaking into the presidential palace is a crime, but because, in her opinion, “the attackers recognized Mikheil Kavelashvili’s presidency.”

“The day after the failed coup and the storming of the presidential palace, former President Zurabishvili issued a statement criticizing the storming of the presidential palace, not because storming the presidential palace is a crime, but because, in her opinion, the attackers thereby recognized Mikheil Kavelashvili’s presidency. We might laugh at this unrealistic statement, but the reality behind it is much more dangerous than it seems at first glance.

Political radicalism leads to terror. This truth was confirmed on October 4, when a violent mob stormed the presidential palace. When the police were able to repel the attackers and it became clear that the attempted storming had failed, the radical leaders who had prepared, incited, and led the coup quickly distanced themselves from the terrorist attack.

Among these leaders was former President Zurabishvili. Earlier in the morning, she announced that she would not vote in the elections and would participate in a rally the stated goal of which was to overthrow the Georgian government. Here, we should not forget that, a few weeks before the attack on the presidential palace, the radicals presented the recent bloody events in Nepal as a source of inspiration for them and a warning to the government.

The fact that the organizers of the coup d'état tried to seize the presidential palace of Georgia is no coincidence. The role intended for Salome Zurabishvili and the way she was being prepared for this role are evident. After leaving office in December last year, Salome Zurabishvili continued to illegally use one of the insignia of the president, the presidential standard, that is, the flag that only the incumbent president has the right to use. Zurabishvili carries this symbol with her everywhere, whether when communicating with the media or at some meetings.

The use of this exclusive symbol of the President of Georgia by a self-proclaimed person during a meeting with some ambassadors of foreign countries is especially disturbing.

Of course, the use of the illegitimate use of the President's standard by ambassadors is unacceptable. We have previously drawn attention to the fact that such compliance serves to encourage radicals and extremists, but to no avail. They either did not realize their role, even by not noticing this intended symbolic act, in encouraging radicalism, or they were deliberately participating in it. The fact is that neither of these two versions says anything good about them. It was precisely such an approach that prompted the extremists to do what we saw on October 4.

This is the first time in our history when radicals have targeted the Presidential Palace, with the covert support of Zurabishvili. It seems that the months-long effort by foreign officials to strengthen Salome Zurabishvili’s image as the “legitimate” president must have played a role, the coup plotters should have brought Zurabishvili into the presidential palace and thus started a "revolution".

It is noteworthy that none of the foreign patrons of the radicals, up to this point, has condemned the terrorist attack on the presidential palace. However, now, condemnation alone is no longer enough. They must also share responsibility for what happened, because, among other things, political intrigues directed from outside led the radicals to organize a coup d'état in Georgia," Shalva Papuashvili writes.