“Georgian Dream punished the emigrants because they play an important role in the protests taking place in Georgia,” said Giorgi Tavdgiridze, a member of the group Faris, commenting on the announced changes that will prevent Georgian citizens abroad from participating in parliamentary elections while outside the country.

Speaking on the PalitraNews program Resume, Tavdgiridze noted that the authorities can increase pressure on society because “they will do everything they can, and even more.”

“Whatever they have done, they will do it all, and it is still not enough. I think Georgian Dream is lagging behind, acting lazily. They could do more and create deeper problems for the population.

We must say once and for all: either we exit Ivanishvili’s legislative space, or we accept it. Elections appointed by Ivanishvili are his elections; they have nothing to do with the elections that were once in the law. Why should a proud emigrant worry that Ivanishvili passed a law in which they will have no right to participate in elections?

The stance of Georgian Dream is clear: they punished emigrants because they play a significant role in the protests taking place in Georgia.

We should understand that if we are fighting a dictatorship, we should not discuss legal acts, laws, or the holding or non-holding of elections. Our only problem is how to overthrow the dictatorship,” Tavdgiridze said.

Tavdgiridze also spoke about the prospects for protests. He argued that competition and internal conflicts within the opposition limit the achievement of common goals.

“Opposition groups and activists often fight each other more energetically than they fight the regime. Let’s face the truth: we have internal competition. Closed groups fight each other with more enthusiasm and energy than they fight the dictatorship.

It turned out that Kobakhidze’s propaganda is stronger than yours. When you were standing on Rustaveli Avenue on October 4, you saw the situation but did not trust your own eyes and ears; you believed what Kobakhidze said. Eighty percent of activists and the opposition spoke about what Georgian Dream proposed to us,” Tavdgiridze stated.