“The revolutionary propaganda front has been defeated. In fact, before our eyes, this protest group has turned into a pseudo-religious sect with all its characteristic features — its symbols, rituals, priests and leaders, as well as its victims and martyrs. This group has developed into an aggressive fundamentalist sect, and we should view it as such and draw conclusions accordingly,” Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said while visiting Luxembourg, responding to a question about a Facebook post he had published.

In this context, Papuashvili noted that “this particular group has its own system of counting days, and today is symbolically the 666th day for them, which is why he wanted to address this significant date.”

According to Papuashvili, “the so-called continuous protest group has become detached from its original substance, is preoccupied with justifying its own existence, and all of its activities are aimed at convincing itself that it exists.”

“The revolutionary propaganda front has been defeated. No one believes anymore that the demonstrations in 2024–2025 were peaceful. No one believes anymore that those detained for violence did not commit violence. No one believes anymore that the elections were rigged. By the way, they themselves no longer believe this either — statements are becoming increasingly common among opposition representatives that their decision to boycott Parliament was wrong. Today, the group that has already turned into a sect is completely defeated in terms of its revolutionary propaganda and is preoccupied with reassuring itself.

“In fact, before our eyes, this protest group has turned into a pseudo-religious sect with all its characteristic features — its symbols, rituals that it performs, its priests and leaders, its victims and martyrs. In every respect, there is an imitation of religion, and it is a pseudo-religious formation. At the same time, given that it is aggressive and violent, it is a pseudo-religious fundamentalist sect that we are observing now,” Papuashvili said.

Papuashvili also said that “the sect is resistant to any foreign idea and therefore avoids dialogue and operates according to dogmas.”

“One of the defining characteristics of a sect is that it is resistant to any foreign idea that does not fit into its worldview. Therefore, it avoids any dialogue and operates according to dogmas.

“Today, they have elevated the European Union to the level of a dogma and declared it a sacred country about which nothing critical may be said. The case of Giorgi Gvelesiani is an example of this, when someone not only makes a critical statement but even asks a question. In his interview, Gvelesiani discussed what the advantages of the European Union are and what its problematic aspects are. This was followed by all the convulsions among representatives of this sect because someone had touched something they worship, something about which even questions cannot be asked.

“Therefore, I believe this is a serious phenomenon. What we are observing is that this group has developed into a fundamentalist sect, and we should view it as such and draw our conclusions accordingly.

“You may remember that in November 2024, when this group turned to violent protests, we offered them a discussion. The Prime Minister made an offer — regarding the November 28 statement, the Prime Minister and I were ready to sit down for a public television debate. Tina Khidasheli and another representative announced their willingness to participate in the discussion, and these people were effectively taken out of the studio so that there would be no discussion, because a sect is afraid of discussion. A sect does not operate on conclusions reached through rational judgment, but on dogmas. The weakness of a dogma is that when it is subjected to discussion, that dogma may be disproved.

“Therefore, this group displays all the signs of being a fundamentalist, aggressive sect. We should not be surprised by the aggressive manifestations, rituals, slogans, chants and insults coming from them — all of this is part of their liturgy, with which this sect is preoccupied. We should not be surprised that discussion and debate are unacceptable to them,” Papuashvili said.