“My suspicion revolves around the possibility that the MPs did not press the wrong button. If Lasha Talakhadze had made the mistake, there would have been no questions about it, but I certainly cannot insult Tea Tsulukiani, for example, by saying that she mixed up the buttons,” Giorgi Sharashidze, an MP from For Georgia, said on PalitraNews’ program “Day's Newsroom.” He was responding to a question about the support expressed by 16 MPs from Georgian Dream and People’s Power for For Georgia’s legislative initiative to restore the rules on assemblies and demonstrations that were in effect before 2024.

According to him, it is not possible for there to be a systemic mix-up when voting on a bill - there are two buttons: green and red.

Sharashidze also suggested that this may have been, allegedly, a kind of signal, including to another faction within Georgian Dream.

The MP also noted that “they may have been trying to save themselves in the future through this manipulation.”

“It does not surprise us that the bill was rejected. We have had numerous cases when our initiatives were rejected. Unfortunately, this is the reality. As for how this happened, I certainly cannot insult Tea Tsulukiani, for example, by saying that she mixed up the buttons. If there is anyone in the current composition of the Georgian Parliament who could be considered one of the most experienced, competent and qualified politicians and MPs, it is first and foremost Ms. Tea Tsulukiani. I understand that she is also human, but on such an important bill, distinguishing between green and red is elementary. If this had been an inexperienced MP, [it would be understandable]. As if we don't have [inexperienced MPs] - of course we do! Athletes, singers...

These MPs should explain themselves. If Ms. Tea and the other MPs made a mistake, they should come forward and say that they made a mistake. But my suspicion is that they did not. This was probably some kind of signal, including to another faction within Georgian Dream. It was supposedly a mistake, but at the same time, a message.

This is also connected to the issue of releasing [Mamuka] Mdinaradze. A large part of the parliamentary majority was directly controlled by Mdinaradze. The only person who could potentially be considered part of Mdinaradze’s so-called team is Kirtskhalia, but Kirtskhalia was not even in the chamber, and it appears that Mr. Samkharadze voted in his place. I do not think any of the others would consider themselves former members of Mdinaradze’s circle of influence or MPs.

The second issue is saving their own reputation, saving themselves, and preserving their image, including when the time comes to deal with our international partners. It is not impossible that, when they need it, they could use this to their advantage and say that they supported such a democratic bill. These are questions, of course; I cannot say this categorically, but such a strange thing happened... If Lasha Talakhadze had made the mistake, there would have been no questions about it, and there are many other MPs in Parliament like that. But here, given the names involved, it is simply very difficult to believe that this happened for technical reasons. There is no technical reason; there can be no systemic mix-up there. There are two buttons, green and red. It should also be said that Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili regularly makes public statements and warns MPs that this bill is not ours, but belongs to the For Georgia faction,” Sharashidze said.

In addition, during the program, he discussed the inclusion of For Georgia on the “list of parties to be banned” and said that the decision was not unexpected for his team.

The MP claimed that Georgian Dream has turned into a party of former United National Movement members and current agents, and said that the decision once again demonstrates the extent to which Georgian Dream relies on the United National Movement as a political issue.

“In general, in the kind of autocracy that Georgian Dream has created, nothing should come as a surprise to a political party. We have also always been prepared for the possibility that anything can happen as long as such an autocracy exists. A political party is a political party precisely because it must have the ability to understand that it needs to be prepared for every scenario. Accordingly, this decision was not particularly unexpected for us, nor was it a surprise.

The logic behind Georgian Dream’s actions is inexplicable. One of the main functions of MPs is to justify decisions made by the party; they have become specialists at doing this. And if you look at their comments, even they could not explain this decision. It is obvious that they themselves do not believe what they are saying, given how absurd the justification for this decision is.

In this kind of autocracy, everything is expected for us, so this was not unexpected either. The issue of the ban and the constitutional lawsuit is connected to crimes committed during the regime of the United National Movement and, in their terminology, the ‘collective UNM.’ Excuse me, but who is talking about banning the ‘collective United National Movement’ in general?! Georgian Dream itself has now turned into a party of former UNM members and current agents. Is Givi Mikanadze supposed to ban Giorgi Gakharia’s party today? And then is this ban supposed to be upheld by the Chinchaladze-Murusidze court? We have a completely paradoxical situation.

They should look within their own ranks for the UNM members. Today’s Georgian Dream is filled with former UNM members; they should look into that and also look at the judges who today represent the ‘clan’ that controls the entire judicial system.

This fact once again demonstrates the extent to which Georgian Dream relies on the United National Movement. Whenever Georgian Dream faces difficulties, it uses the United National Movement factor and tries to get through the situation that way. Of course, it is easier for them if they can make all their competitors fall under this same umbrella. In addition to being filled with former UNM members itself, Georgian Dream relies on the ‘UNM factor,’ and this decision is also connected to that,” Sharashidze said.

The opposition MP also discussed personnel changes, saying that the frequent changes of the heads of the State Security Service indicate that Georgian Dream has no systematic strategic vision regarding the country’s security policy.

According to him, based on experience and qualifications, Tamaz Borashvili is better than all of his predecessors, but the system created by Georgian Dream is so deeply entrenched that it will be very difficult for him to serve as an independent head of the agency.

As for Gela Geladze’s return to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sharashidze said that he may have wanted to go home, but was not allowed to leave.

“Being allowed to go home is a gift for any person who has become a servant of the system and who once signed up to do anything and everything that was required of him. Do not consider his [Gela Geladze’s] return to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be some kind of special gesture toward him. It is possible that he wanted to go home, but they did not let him.

When you are not allowed to leave, it means that the autocratic system is retaining its control over you to the very end. As for the constant replacement of the heads of the State Security Service — Parliament approves the head of the State Security Service for a six-year term, yet we see that they cannot last not only six years, but even six months.

First and foremost, this indicates that Georgian Dream has no systematic strategic vision regarding the country’s security policy. If it did, it would be impossible to replace officials at such a pace. This directly indicates autocracy and informal governance.

The State Security Service is directly an appendage of the party, which is a major problem for our country. It does not serve its main objective - the security of our country - but serves the party.

Against this background, Tamaz Borashvili, as an operative and an experienced employee, is better than all his predecessors in terms of experience and qualifications. However, the system created by Georgian Dream is so deeply entrenched that it will be very difficult for Mr. Borashvili to perform his main function - to be an independent head of the State Security Service. We do not assume that he will be able to maintain that independence,” Sharashidze said.