The decision to enter Parliament was made after analysis, particularly following the special operation on October 4, which further intensified the authoritarianism created by “Georgian Dream” and gave them additional pretexts and arguments to justify to their supporters why they are tightening laws, said Giorgi Sharashidze, one of the leaders of “Gakharia – For Georgia,” on PalitraNews’ program “Day’s Newsroom,” where he discussed the reasons behind the party’s decision to end the parliamentary boycott and enter Parliament.
According to him, the boycott failed to prevent “Georgian Dream” from halting the EU integration process and adopting anti-democratic laws.
“The long-term boycott was a mistake. When ‘Dream’ rigged the elections, it was the right form [of protest], but when we say it was a mistake, we primarily mean the annulment of mandates. Ultimately, the boycott started in Parliament grew into a boycott of local self-government elections, resulting in the irresponsible special operation on October 4. The boycott took on the appearance of boycotting everything, but by entering Parliament, we will oppose ‘Dream’ as is done in normal, European, democratic countries. We are not saying that with our 12 votes we can block certain bills or pass those we want. ‘Dream’ is currently damaging the country, no matter how much we call it and Parliament illegitimate. It governs the country today and controls the entire state system, all three branches, including the fourth estate [media]. Our role is to minimize the damage caused by ‘Dream.’ If Parliament was and is illegitimate, did that stop them from doing what they wanted? Did they not halt the EU integration process? Did they not pass anti-democratic laws? ‘Dream’ will continue this, and what should we do—fail to use the mandates given to us by the people so that differing opinions can be heard in Parliament?
We will use every lever to prevent ‘Dream’ from continuing to damage the country’s European future. In some cases, we may not succeed, but we can minimize the damage. The opposition’s role is to use its levers for constant pressure on the government. We see what’s happening outside, but after a part of the population believed that the only alternative for change was the street, that’s exactly why the irresponsibility of October 4 happened,” Giorgi Sharashidze stated.
According to him, despite criticism from other political forces, they are entering Parliament to bring in differing opinions.
“We have never had and will not have dealings with the ‘National Movement,’ especially after what they did on October 4 and when they make such statements against us. Let them think about their own responsibility for the state they’ve put the country in, and who facilitated Bidzina [Ivanishvili] and ‘Dream,’ including on October 4. Don’t they forget that they were the ones calling on the population to boycott elections and for a so-called peaceful overthrow?
We have our own path and strategy, and no one can dictate criteria for what opposition should be. We won’t start insulting, as that’s not our style. We’re not entering Parliament to continue cursing or to act in a ‘Georgian Dream’ regime style. ‘Dream’ is not afraid of insults; it fears constructive criticism and healthy opposition when they cannot escape facts, reality, and truth. The only instance in recent times when the political process came alive was when Giorgi Gakharia attended [Tea] Tsulukiani’s illegitimate commission,” Giorgi Sharashidze stated.
According to Giorgi Sharashidze’s assessment, the country must break out of the spiral of confrontation, radicalism, hate speech, and polarization.
“We will use every available lever, every tool allocated to the opposition, because these tools have not been used so far. There’s nothing surprising about the fact that instead of an artificial opposition appointed by ‘Dream,’ a real opposition should have these tools. We must once and for all break out of this spiral in which the country is trapped – a spiral of hatred, confrontation, radicalism, hate speech, and polarization. We are the people who will respond to this hate speech with sensible, calm, consistent, balanced, and rational politics, and we must bring this back to the country. Otherwise, we may face very grave consequences, including the transformation of all this into civil confrontation. We look forward, and I am confident that our decision will yield positive results,” Giorgi Sharashidze stated.
Giorgi Sharashidze: We have our own path, and no one can dictate the criteria for what opposition should look like – we will use every tool available in Parliament; ‘Dream’ is not afraid of insults, but of healthy opposition
