“It is unacceptable to say one day that this is a Russian regime poisoning its own population with chemical weapons, and the next day to appeal to its humanity,” said Tengiz Kirtadze, one of the leaders of the Federalists party, commenting on the issue of pardoning prisoners in connection with the Epiphany holiday.

Speaking on PalitraNews’ program “360 Degrees,” Kirtadze said that expectations regarding a possible pardon of those detained during protests on Epiphany were largely created by the media.

“Today’s situation was largely created by the media… this expectation (of pardoning those detained during protests on Epiphany) was created by the media, excuse me. After Kavelashvili’s statement, this topic existed only in the media.

The problem is that excessive attention was paid to this issue in connection with Epiphany. For a year now, the demand of the protest has been the same: the resignation of the regime and the release of political prisoners. But the release of political prisoners without the resignation of the regime has never happened, has it?! What we demand is the resignation of the regime and the release of political captives - not mercy handed down from a position of strength, whenever they decide it is convenient.

This topic received excessive attention also because it does not depend on us, nor on Kavelashvili. What expectations parents and family members may have on this day is their right. But the political spectrum, active society, and the media must manage expectations; too much focus was placed on this issue.

You cannot one day say that this is a Russian regime poisoning its own population with chemical weapons, and the next day appeal to its humanity. That makes us look unserious ourselves,” Kirtadze said.

Kirtadze also spoke about ongoing developments within the opposition, stating that the formation of a political alternative is in an active phase and is expected to be completed in the near future.

“At this stage, the process of creating a political alternative within the opposition is underway. I believe this process will be completed in the near future. There is broad agreement. In a few weeks, there will be a joint document that a large part of the political spectrum will join.

There will be no single unity, which means that the protest’s main advantage is that it has created centers of resistance in a decentralized way. From my perspective, in 2026 everyone should focus on strengthening themselves. The stronger each political individual or political subject in the resistance is, the stronger I feel as well, and the stronger the resistance becomes overall.

Everyone should strengthen themselves. If someone is tired, they should step aside for a while, rest, and then return. This is the solution - the more we strengthen ourselves, the more problems we will create for Bidzina Ivanishvili,” Kirtadze stated.