“I call on the Zarkuas and Levan Machavarianis: resign from your positions and then talk about what tough guys you are! When you hide behind the state and try to settle scores with citizens using state power, don’t talk to me about dignity! If you’re defending dignity, then get rid of the police and defend that dignity on your own—then we’ll see what kind of defenders of dignity you are!” said Akaki Bobokhidze, one of the leaders of the “European Georgia” party, during an appearance on PalitraNews’ program “Day’s Newsroom.”
According to Bobokhidze, the country is currently governed by “a Kadyrov-style gang system that goes by the name of the Georgian government.” He further stated that “when the state does not protect you, the people have the right to do anything against this system.”
“The government has an obligation to maintain order. Yesterday, on Melikishvili Avenue, we saw a government that, instead of maintaining order, was engaged in settling scores. I’m not even distinguishing between truth and lies—the government itself is already a lie!
When they are weak, they rely on the police, but when they feel strong, they restrain the police and don’t let them maintain order. So what does this mean? That the Georgian people have no right to defend themselves. They have neither the police nor the right to self-defense. This government has gone beyond the law, and any form of overthrowing it—legal, peaceful, non-peaceful, this way or that—everything will be fair! One day, that thin thread on which the so-called ‘peace’ hangs will break.
I take great pleasure in recalling an incident when I had a conflict with a well-known journalist, but I stood up and resigned that same evening. In my resignation statement, I wrote that a state official cannot strike a citizen.
Let the Levan Machavarianis and Zarkuas resign first, shed their status, and then fight! How nice it is when someone raises a hand against you, and the police and the entire state apparatus protect you, but when a citizen tries to defend their dignity, ‘zonderbrigades’ hiding behind the police show up.
If you saw the kind of cars they were mobilized in—jeeps! At first glance, they might seem like successful people, but in reality, these successful people are a gang that goes by the name of the Georgian government. Even if they were legally elected, after these actions, they are already illegitimate. We elect a government to uphold law and order, not for lawlessness.
This is a Kadyrov-style system, and when the state does not protect you, the people have the right to do anything against this system—more than that, the state itself is the aggressor. When you are attacked, you can do anything to defend yourself, whatever means you have,” Bobokhidze stated.
According to Bobokhidze, how events unfold on October 4 will depend on the actions of the government.
“That thread will break one day, and I don’t want to see a repeat of what I witnessed in my youth. In the ‘90s, the confrontation was political in nature. It was a confrontation with the first president, then a confrontation between the first president’s supporters and the second president. This is no longer a political confrontation—it’s a confrontation with a gang. And a gang is usually more cohesive than political groups. Political groups have different political views and responsibilities, but a gang is bound together by a shared sense of criminality.
I’ve spent my whole life walking the streets—I walked the streets before coming to power and after leaving power. I walk the streets today, and I’ll probably walk them tomorrow. I can’t even imagine these people walking the streets,” Bobokhidze stated.
Akaki Bobokhidze: Any form of overthrowing this government – legal, peaceful, non-peaceful, this way or that—everything will be fair! One day, that thin thread on which the so-called ‘peace’ hangs will break!
