“Give children the medicine! Someone like Sarjveladze, who has zero medical education and zero political ethics, has turned into an official political monster within this government today,” said Tazo Datunashvili, one of the leaders of “Lelo - Strong Georgia,” in an interview on PalitraNews program "Day’s Newsroom", while discussing the problems faced by children diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

He called on the government to “do the right thing this time” and provide children with the necessary medication.

“Mikheil Sarjveladze controls every third lari spent from the Georgian state budget. Around 30% of total state budget expenditures go to the Ministry of Health. The Minister of Health is responsible for every third lari spent by the state. This person has absolutely all the leverage. We are talking about a 9 billion budget, and over 2 billion of that in the Ministry of Health alone, not even counting social allocations. And this person says that after several months of work, he still could not find 39 million in a country that claims to have the best economic indicators and growth? I am ashamed of his masculinity, I am ashamed of the politics of everyone who thinks politics means answering these children’s parents with dirty lies instead of doing the work that could, even for 1 minute or 1 hour, keep these children out of wheelchairs or extend their lives. Let them act correctly now and give these children a chance to live longer,” Datunashvili said.

Regarding political issues, he also responded to recent statements by Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, including her claim that there is “no repression or hostile rhetoric toward Western partners in Georgia, and that dialogue was suspended by Brussels.”

Datunashvili said Botchorishvili “is blatantly lying.” He stated that “the Georgian population is being lied to by a high-ranking official who considers herself a top political figure.” He argued that citizens can clearly see political repression in the country and that people are being punished for political reasons, with opposition leaders currently in prison.

He named detained opposition figures, including Vefkhia Kasradze and Vaso Kadzhelashvili, arguing that the charges against them are absurd and politically motivated. He also mentioned other imprisoned opposition leaders such as Levan Khabeishvili and Paata Manjgaladze, saying Georgia has a “clan-based judiciary.”

According to him, denying political repression is “an attempt to throw dust in people’s eyes,” and such behavior is “cynical and harmful,” pushing society away from political engagement and deepening public disillusionment. He stressed that people are being arrested for standing on sidewalks, threatened, and blackmailed because of their political views.

He concluded that claiming there is no political repression is “simply evil,” saying: “This is what evil looks like.”

He also commented on the summoning of EU Ambassador Pavel Herczyński to the Foreign Ministry, saying it is false that the diplomat threatened Georgia.

He argued that such diplomatic moves are used for internal propaganda by the ruling party. According to him, Herczyński described Georgia’s recent history, particularly the difficult 1990s period marked by isolation and civil conflict, which Russia later exploited.

He stressed that the EU is not an enemy of Georgia and said that what Herczyński described reflects the country’s recent past. He added that only someone ignorant of history or deliberately dishonest could interpret the ambassador’s statements as threats.