Shalva Papuashvili: Yesterday the Patriarch baptized three times more people in Upper Adjara than we saw at the rally in Tbilisi – this too shows where the Georgian people stand
Yesterday the Patriarch baptized three times more people in Upper Adjara than we saw at the rally in Tbilisi – this too shows where the Georgian people stand, – this was stated by Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili in response to yesterday’s opposition rally.
According to him, the Georgian people cannot stand with that pseudo-religious sect which is trying to push the Georgian Church out of the public space and which is trying to bring to power in Georgia a force that would be directly subordinate to the influence of foreign governments.
“Yesterday I was in Upper Adjara, where the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia baptized the local population of Adjara. There were both children and adults there. Yesterday the Catholicos-Patriarch baptized three times more people in Upper Adjara than the number of people we saw at the rally. This too shows where the Georgian people stand. The Georgian people cannot stand with that pseudo-religious sect which is trying to push the Georgian Church out of the public space, which is trying to bring to power in Georgia a force that would be directly subordinate to the influence of foreign governments. In short, it is an anti-patriotic and agent force. So yesterday was the best illustration – a few hundred representatives of the pseudo-religious sect gathered in Tbilisi who were once again performing their pseudo-religious ritual, and people gathered with genuine faith in Upper Adjara – three times more than we saw in Tbilisi yesterday.
The people do not stand on the side of agency; the people cannot stand on the side of those who say that you must stand on one foot before a foreign government, that you must serve the interests of a foreign country; they cannot stand on the side of that sect which attacks the Georgian Church; they cannot stand on the side of that sect which replaces Georgia’s interests with the interests of any other country,” Papuashvili stated.
As for the question related to the fact that “Mikheil Saakashvili’s banners caused irritation among some of the rally participants,” the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia notes that they are trying to present as if some disagreement exists, but all of this is a game that we have been watching for 14 years.
“This was a rally of the ‘collective National Movement.’ Let no one deceive themselves as if they have internal confrontation or are somehow differently allied. They supposedly attack Saakashvili – the very people who were the main ideologues and implementers of his government and his criminal activities: Bokeria, Gvaramia and others. This is simply a game that we are watching. We have been observing this game for 14 years – they supposedly fall apart, then gather again. They curse each other, then invite each other to leadership positions in their parties. How many more times do we have to look at all this when they try to present as if some disagreement exists? This is the ‘collective National Movement,’ and these days we are observing precisely the process of legitimizing the ‘collective National Movement,’” he noted.
For reference: yesterday a rally organized by the “Opposition Alliance” under the name “Georgia without Ivanishvili” was held. Opposition politicians and citizens first gathered at the first building of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, then marched to Rustaveli metro station, where several politicians addressed the public. According to the politicians, this rally will be the start of other permanent protests, and a large-scale rally is planned in Tbilisi on 28 November.
