“Do you think you are the opposition?! You are an agent funded from abroad to disrupt the situation in Georgia and create polarization! You’d better deal with your traitor Gakharia!” — said Eka Sepashvili, a member of the “People’s Power” political group, addressing Daji Kovziridze, a representative of the “For Georgia” party, during a session of the temporary parliamentary commission studying prices.

During the session, representatives of pharmacy chains were being heard. The discussion also covered prices of baby food and childcare products.

A verbal confrontation between the MPs followed Kovziridze’s statement. The “For Georgia” party MP emphasized that, at present, around 250,000 children in Georgia live below the poverty line and fewer than 6,000 children are being born. Kovziridze also highlighted the high prices of baby food and childcare products.

The chair of the commission, Shota Berikashvili, interrupted the opposition colleague several times. He told Daji Kovziridze that the temporary commission was gathered in a working format and that political statements should be made in the parliamentary chamber.

“There is no place for political statements here. This is a working meeting. Let’s avoid scandal. There is no place here for political statements and speculation. You can make as many political statements as you want in the chamber. Here we are discussing very serious topics with very serious people, which are important for our population. We will go into details and find out how we can achieve tangible results, especially when it comes to baby nutrition,” Berikashvili said, addressing Kovziridze.

In response, Kovziridze told the commission chair that children in Georgia are starving and that this is not speculation.

“Mr. Shota! For you this is a political statement, and it is not a problem for you, because you easily spend a million as if it were pocket change. Do you call it speculation that children are starving?” Kovziridze said to Shota Berikashvili.

He also stated that the parliamentary commission could not fix what “Georgian Dream” had broken.

The secretary of the temporary commission, Eka Sepashvili, a member of the political group “People’s Power,” joined the argument. Sepashvili told Kovziridze to allow the commission to continue its work. Kovziridze, in turn, advised her to at least formally maintain the image of an opposition MP.

“Do you think you are the opposition?! You are an agent funded from abroad to disrupt the situation in Georgia and create polarization!

Don’t you understand that this is a working process? Let us work! Businesses need government help with constructive proposals so they can manage their stock, which may soon expire,” Eka Sepashvili said to Daji Kovziridze.

In response, Kovziridze called Sepashvili “ridiculous.”“Ms. Eka, you are ridiculous! You are telling me that I am an agent. You would need a long time to even get close to me,” Kovziridze said.