President of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, stated this in a comment to journalists, saying that Salome Zurabishvili slandered the Georgian Church on a day of mourning and then questions arose about who was where and who was not, which he believes demonstrates her lack of adequacy.

According to him, the opposition has turned its back on the country and the Church by tearing up parliamentary mandates, and if they had remained in parliament, they would have been present at the service.

“These people chose to stand outside the state. They tore up their parliamentary mandates. If they had been in parliament, they would, of course, have been among the representatives, including during the liturgy.

As for Ms. Salome Zurabishvili, what we are seeing from her is the peak of hypocrisy. A person who does not spare words in attacking the Church, who on a day of mourning slandered the Georgian Church - claiming that the Ecumenical Patriarch wanted to hold a service but the Georgian Church refused, which is an absolute lie. She slandered the Church on a day of mourning and now asks where people were. This person constantly attacked the Georgian Church, its leaders, bishops, and those making decisions during these days. She does not even know that services are held in all churches on Sundays. After all these attacks during the mourning period, for her to now ask where someone was or was not - this, in my opinion, shows her lack of adequacy,” Papuashvili said.

Regarding the election of a new Patriarch, the Speaker noted that it is still too early to discuss this.

He expressed confidence that the Holy Synod will make a wise decision, emphasizing that it is entirely the Church’s decision and that they trust the wisdom of the Georgian Church and its Synod.