“It will be very difficult to confirm that the people arrested yesterday are political prisoners. By arresting them, the authorities themselves created a kind of legitimate basis,” – politician Dimitri Tskitishvili said on PalitraNews while speaking about the arrest of members of the October 4 rally’s organizing committee.
Tskitishvili also noted that the government gained “legitimacy” precisely because of the actions of those arrested, which makes it difficult to recognize them as political prisoners.
According to him, international organizations have not yet made any statements declaring that the detainees are political prisoners.
“Breaking into the presidential palace gives them a certain legitimacy to act violently and arrest people. They gained this legitimacy; they fell into this provocation. It will be very difficult to confirm that those arrested yesterday are political prisoners. By arresting them, the authorities themselves created this legitimate basis. So far, international organizations have not issued a statement that those detained yesterday are political prisoners,” – Tskitishvili said.
Speaking about the state of the opposition, Tskitishvili emphasized that no changes can occur in the country under conditions of a fragmented opposition.
According to him, the existing political entities do not have enough resources to bring about changes independently. He believes unity and coordinated action would yield better results than separate, individual efforts.
“What happened was easily predictable. Changes cannot occur in this country under a fragmented opposition – not electoral changes, not a revolution, and not a boycott. Today, political entities in Georgia do not have the resources to independently implement change. Standing together and acting in a coordinated manner can bring much more results than acting separately. Yesterday was an example of that. There is protest among the population, it has not gone anywhere. The protest may have changed its form, but when a protest day is announced, society comes out. The government has done nothing to calm or exhaust the protest. When there is a basis, there will also be protest. Political forces did not understand what is happening in the country – neither participation in elections, nor protest,” – Tskitishvili said.
According to him, the opposition’s electoral strategy was doomed to failure from the start, and that was the reason he left the party. He noted that the outcome was predictable and avoiding responsibility is wrong.
“They entered the elections in this situation, and that was the reason I left the party. Their result was predictable – such a poor outcome. It was a fact that they would not be able to take votes from anyone. Today, blaming others is not right. In politics, the most important thing is responsibility. The boycott was announced without any prior consultations. They declared revolution and overthrow, but practically it turned out they were not prepared for anything. They entered the elections and it became clear that their promises were false – they could not mobilize either the city or the villages,” – Tskitishvili stated.
Speaking about the opposition crisis, Tskitishvili stressed that an agreement should have been reached in time, but the sides failed to compromise, which resulted in the current situation.
He said that today the crisis lies more on the protest side, and first of all, everyone must assume their share of responsibility, after which it will be possible to think about next steps.
“An agreement should have been reached. This is like the “Caucasian Chalk Circle” – whoever truly loves the homeland must give in. No one gave in, and this is the result we got. Today, the crisis is more on the protest side. First of all, everyone must take their own blame and responsibility, and only after that should we think about the next steps. Among the rally participants, there is much more political culture than within the political parties. Yesterday showed me that clearly,” – Tskitishvili concluded.
Dimitri Tskitishvili: It will be very difficult to confirm that those arrested yesterday are political prisoners – but the protest has not gone anywhere, and the government has done nothing to calm or end it
