“It is unfortunate that Mrs. Salome Zurabishvili comes out with such a message just a few days before October 4, when she has never said anything like this, neither publicly nor otherwise,” said Irakli Kupradze, the joint candidate for Tbilisi mayor from the coalition “Strong Georgia – Lelo” and the party “For Georgia – Gakharia” on PalitraNews’ program “360 Degrees” in response to the fifth president. Kupradze was answering a question regarding Zurabishvili’s statement, in which she advised political parties not to participate in the local elections, saying that those who do participate are doing so under government pressure.
According to Kupradze, his team does not respond to baseless accusations, as they do not want to become the opposition to the opposition.
Kupradze said the only opponent of the coalition “Lelo – Strong Georgia” is Bidzina Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream.
“Our goal is not to respond to baseless accusations. We will respond to everything starting October 5, when many things will become clear, including the possibility of change, a peaceful revolution, elections, and the opportunity we are giving to every process against Ivanishvili.
Our position has always been not to answer accusations, and we do this for one reason – tomorrow and the day after, it will again be necessary to talk to each other.
It doesn’t matter who voices baseless accusations – what matters is our position and how we respond. It is obvious that throughout this time there have been many attempts at confrontation, but this confrontation has remained one-sided. We have not responded to any accusations made in the opposition field, whether they came from Salome Zurabishvili or from other political leaders with whom we have years of shared struggle. The only person we respond to directly and radically, whom we accuse of corruption, violence, and promoting Russian interests, is Bidzina Ivanishvili and his team. We will not become the opposition of the opposition – our focus is on Ivanishvili,” said Irakli Kupradze.
When asked why the coalition “Strong Georgia” did not follow Salome Zurabishvili’s advice to boycott the elections, especially given that the coalition trusted her enough to consider naming her as their joint mayoral candidate, Kupradze replied that Zurabishvili herself was ready for this, but he did not provide further explanation on the matter.
Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, told TVP WORLD in an interview that what is being held in Georgia are “pseudo-elections” following last year’s parliamentary elections, which were conducted under conditions of “very heavy Russian interference and falsification.” Accordingly, she said, nothing can be expected from these elections, but much can be expected from protests, since people want “regime change” and new democratic elections.
Zurabishvili also stated that the situation has only worsened since the parliamentary elections in terms of legislation and the ruling party’s “total control over the election commission and everything else.” Therefore, her advice to political parties was to “simply ignore these elections.” She also noted that in the end practically no one is participating, and those who are, do so “under government pressure.”
“Two party leaders who are participating were in prison, and they were essentially released just so they could take part [in the elections],” said Salome Zurabishvili.
Irakli Kupradze: Our goal is not to respond to baseless accusations – it is unfortunate that Salome Zurabishvili makes such a statement just a few days before October 4, when she has never said anything like this before
