“I did not come out of prison driven by revenge. I came out with one goal only: our generation has a mission to lead this country to safety, address rising prices and unemployment, bring emigrants back home, and improve the catastrophic demographic situation. The nation is on the verge of destruction. Come on May 26 if these issues concern you,” the leader of Strategy Aghmashenebeli said during the Palitranews program Free Studio.

Responding to a question about the risk of a repeat of the October 4 events on May 26, Vashadze said that October 4 had been a planned provocation organized by Georgian Dream.

According to him, the authorities took advantage of the fact that politicians experienced in managing protest rallies were in prison at the time.

The opposition politician stated that a new phase of the struggle will begin on May 26 and that it will have a completely different format and content.

Vashadze announced speeches by political leaders and “surprises,” though he stressed they would be positive in nature, and therefore the public should not expect “storming, rushing, running, or forced movements.”

He called on citizens to attend the protest rally, warning that “things will become even worse in the country” if they do not.

“May 26 is the first gathering to obtain and renew the opposition’s mandate. We will gather near the university at 7:00 PM and march toward parliament. We are gathering in the evening because official events are taking place in the morning, and we do not want any incidents or provocations from their side [Georgian Dream].

There will definitely be speeches by political leaders and entirely new elements, including involving society in the process. There will be surprises, but positive ones.

I emphasize: there will be no storming, rushing somewhere, escaping, or forced relocation. There will be only one thing - various acts expressing the mandate of the people. You will see very different developments.

This rally will be completely different in both format and content. Not shouting from a stage, but also not the opposite extreme of having no stage at all. It will be a well-planned rally where we will demonstrate professionalism.

The October 4 provocation was entirely organized by them [Georgian Dream]. They exploited the fact that we - politicians with experience in managing protests - were imprisoned. They also took advantage of the relative inexperience of some organizers.

It is also a fact that the masked individuals who first climbed the fence were never identified or arrested. Completely different people were detained instead. It is also a fact that the cameras were conveniently turned away so those who first tore down the fence could not be seen. Even the fence itself appeared to have already been cut.

All of this was a provocation, and it happened because those of us with protest-management experience were in prison, which this machine of evil exploited.

We are not simply gathering on May 26. This rally will not only be interesting, but everyone who returns home afterward will do so with a specific task. On May 26 we are starting a new phase of the struggle with entirely different content and priorities.

As for those people [representatives of Georgian Dream], I am not interested in them at all and I do not listen to them, because I have nothing to do with chair-clinging officials.

I see many people on television constantly lecturing others. We are not lecturing anyone; we are taking responsibility and acting. We are not commentators like others, where politicians and experts are all mixed together.

We are saying that we are ready to take responsibility for governing the country, but before that, we will show how responsibly we approach this struggle.

If you do not come to the rally on May 26, things in the country will become even worse. Prices will become even heavier for you, people will listen to you even less, more money will be stolen from the budget, and public opinion will be ignored even more.

This is not just a political rally. Politics is why fuel prices are not reduced. Politics is why nothing is being done about food prices, and instead they announce they will rise even more. Politics is also the reason why three million fines have already been issued since the beginning of the year.

People, if you do not come to the rally, tomorrow they will issue six million fines. If you do not come, they will fine you even more; if you do not come, fuel prices will not go down; if you do not come, these children will not receive funding for medicine and the situation will worsen.

People, what are you afraid of? We have already been through prison, and they are threatening me with another 15 years in prison, but I am not afraid. What are you afraid of? Neither Zura, nor Nika, nor Paata Manjgaladze is afraid - my friend and my party’s secretary general, who was sentenced to seven years in prison completely unjustly, as even the Public Defender’s conclusion stated there was no evidence against him.

We are not afraid, but we need your support to carry this through to victory. We will stand responsibly and we will win, but we need you to come out and stand with us,” Vashadze said.

He also commented on statements by representatives of Georgian Dream suggesting that Brussels was behind the planned May 26 rally. According to the opposition leader, Georgian Dream itself is dependent on outside forces and constantly “looks abroad for the key.”

“I say openly and clearly that no one outside is connected to planning this rally. I see very clearly how these people search for answers in Washington and Brussels. I tell them this clearly - the key is not there; the key is in Georgia.

As long as you maintain such a harsh attitude toward the Georgian people, no matter how much money you spend in Brussels or Washington to protect your interests, and no matter how much you run around even in Kyiv, nothing will work out for you. We are here - talk to the people. Stop looking abroad for the key. You are the ones tied to outside forces, and you are the ones searching for answers abroad,” Giorgi Vashadze stated.

He also responded to criticism from Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, who criticized the opposition for meeting citizens too late and mocked their door-to-door campaigning.

According to Vashadze, representatives of Georgian Dream should not even mention the word “chair,” because they sacrificed the country’s future for their positions, cling to power, and cannot move around without police cordons.

“I apologize for being in prison and therefore unable to meet people. I truly apologize for that. As for meetings, I do not like doing things unprepared. My goal is to prepare professionally and approach every process thoughtfully.

You will see opposition representatives everywhere, in every district. I do not like these sarcastic remarks. I apologize that I could not jump out of prison and travel around meeting people, because if anyone has traveled village to village across Georgia and visited many regions, it is me.

As for the author of the ‘chair-to-chair’ statement - there is a Georgian saying: a fox dreams only of chickens. That is exactly their situation. Have you ever seen these people anywhere beyond their chairs? They call themselves top officials - how can they even say the word ‘chair’? They get up from their chairs, stand at a podium for a briefing, then return and cling to their chairs again.

They cannot move around without police cordons and cannot go among the people. These people sacrificed the fate of the country for their chairs, and they should not even mention that word,” Vashadze said.