“Just a few weeks ago, we all remember how triumphantly they announced their unity. They couldn’t even manage their own unity - and how are these people supposed to govern the country if they have such ambitions?” Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said, commenting on Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s remarks addressed to the “Opposition Alliance.”

According to Kaladze, members of the “Opposition Alliance” are out of touch with the country’s interests.

“I don’t intend to interfere in their internal affairs, but what we can clearly see is that just a few weeks ago they loudly celebrated their unity. They are not aligned with the country’s interests, they are detached, they are enemies of the country. These were instructions coming from outside. Look at how they confront and insult each other. If they couldn’t manage their own unity, how are they supposed to run the country? We all know where these people are being directed from,” Kaladze said.

As a reminder, Georgia’s third president Mikheil Saakashvili had responded to a statement by the “Opposition Alliance,” saying:

“I have always been, and remain, a supporter of unity, but if that unity is so fragile that it breaks down easily over everything and even seeks to impose censorship on me, it will not have the strength to fight the regime.

I have not accepted censorship from dictatorships - neither from the Ukrainian government in the past nor from Russia. Friends, adjust your target. It’s time to free ourselves from the ‘Saakashvili complex’ and fully focus on the work. And if something isn’t working, instead of saying ‘Misha is hindering us,’ you should work even better,” Saakashvili wrote.

Earlier, eight out of nine parties in the “Opposition Alliance” - “Akhali,” “Girchi - More Freedom,” “Droa,” “National Democratic Party,” “European Georgia,” “Freedom Square,” “Strategy Aghmashenebeli,” and “Federalists” - responded to Saakashvili’s April 18 statement.

According to them, “personal attacks,” as both the alliance and a significant part of the public perceived Saakashvili’s remarks, contradict the alliance’s principles, including the understanding that no single party has the right to declare itself the sole representative of the opposition or protest movement, or claim one-party or one-person leadership.