“When they say there is no unity in the opposition, I don’t need unity in the opposition for anything. I don’t want to take photos with them, nor do I want friendship. What I need is for them to react to the protest order the way we, the ‘Federalists,’ do. As of today, we cooperate with eight parties, which we practically started alphabetically. The ‘United National Movement’ is not among them,” said Tengo Kirtadze, a member of the Federalist Party, in the Palitranius program Day’s Newsroom.

He described the United National Movement (UNM) as an obstacle on the path to the goal and noted that during 13 years of resistance, this undemocratic, autocratic, and leader-cult-based party consistently obstructed the democratic process, a tool successfully used by Georgian Dream as the image of an enemy.

“A systemic confrontation occurred in Georgia when autocratic and oligarchic governance was opposed by the democratic process, and the democratic process created a mandate. You, the political class, to transform this mandate successfully, must be democratic yourself, oppose autocracy, not support oligarchic structures, and avoid having a leader- or oligarch-based infrastructure and cult within your party. Once the political class can fulfill this protest mandate—that is, form the appropriate alternative—the protest will expand immediately, creating existential problems for the regime. That is precisely what we are working on.

“When they say there is no unity in the opposition, I don’t need unity in the opposition for anything. I don’t want photos with them, nor friendship. I need them to react to the protest order as we, the Federalists, do. Then we can discuss our future, how to act together, what steps to take, and what substance we agree on so that tomorrow in this country will be better than today. We cooperate with anyone who meets these conditions. As of today, we cooperate with eight parties, started alphabetically. The United National Movement is not included.

“To follow the correct path to our goal, sometimes it is necessary to remove barriers along the way. The United National Movement, being undemocratic, autocratic, and leader-cult-based, has always obstructed the democratic process throughout 13 years of resistance. Georgian Dream creates its agenda around the United National Movement. This is deliberate because it needed the image of an enemy, just as Russia needs an enemy image to justify its aggression and expansionist policies. This was exactly the case with Georgian Dream—they needed the United National Movement, which was unpopular, and every subsequent party had to be the ‘collective UNM.’ That is why, when needed, parties like Gakharia’s, Lelo, and others were considered the ‘collective UNM.’ If such a strong party as the United National Movement can create its agenda and act alone, what are we supposed to talk about? Let them confront the regime and defeat it—how could I stop them?”

Kirtadze also emphasized that street protests influence Georgian Dream, and every wave of stricter laws reflects the regime’s reaction to the inability to suppress resistance and protest.

“Protests affect Georgian Dream—the tightening of laws is always a reaction to the fact that, despite all methods, Georgian Dream could not break the resistance and protest. This reaction will also fail and, to some extent, will become another own-goal for the regime,” Kirtadze said.

He further assessed critical statements made in Brussels regarding the Georgian government, noting that while there used to be some openness, it is now clear that under Georgian Dream, Georgia’s European integration is impossible.

“Kaia Kalas gave a very clear, short, and concise answer, which is substantively absolutely correct—the United States has never applied to join the European Union; that is not its goal. They have different strategic and economic objectives, even regarding freedom of speech and expression, which legally is far lower in the EU than in the US. In Georgia, for 20 years, we had American standards of freedom of speech and expression, which Georgian Dream is now undermining.

“If the Georgian government agrees with US criticism of the EU regarding fundamental rights to free speech and expression, then why is it doing the same itself? Our standard has worsened. They continue portraying the West, in this case the EU and Europe in general, not as our partner but as the enemy, as if their positions were not Russian or regime propaganda but part of a broader Western discussion—which is absurd. Everything is done to retain power. Bidzina Ivanishvili sacrifices the national interest just to stay in power and then claims his party is the most patriotic force. It is the most terrible political entity in Georgia’s history, if we exclude traitorous kings who openly betrayed our national interests. Regarding the statements made in Brussels, I have zero expectation of any positive change. Until now, there was at least a small window, but now it is clear that under Georgian Dream and the Ivanishvili regime, European integration for Georgia is excluded. That is why our national task is to remove this undemocratic and autocratic regime,” said Tengo Kirtadze.