Our message on how to act on October 4 is as follows: in the morning, go to the elections; in the evening, support the protests! If every opposition-minded voter in Tbilisi goes to the polls, Kakha Kaladze will be defeated in the first round of the elections. If not all opposition voters go, but a sufficient number do, Kaladze will face a tough fight in the second round, stated Irakli Kupradze, the joint Tbilisi mayoral candidate of the coalition “Strong Georgia – Lelo” and the party “Gakharia for Georgia,” during an appearance on PalitraNews’ program “Day’s Newsroom.”
According to Kupradze, it is essential for citizens to dedicate 15 minutes on October 4 to vote, thereby supporting change on one hand and expressing their stance against Ivanishvili on the other.
Kupradze stated that “Lelo – Strong Georgia” is fighting against Bidzina Ivanishvili everywhere—both at protests and through elections.
“In Tbilisi, the rating of ‘Georgian Dream’ is very, very low—it can be said that 8 or 9 out of 10 people we meet on the street say they are angry, talking about social problems, injustice, lawlessness, mentioning political prisoners, and so on. This is a reality confirmed by sociological studies. Objective sociological studies show that ‘Georgian Dream’ has a 23% rating in Tbilisi. This 23% relies on public servants, state institutions, councils, and ministries. ‘Georgian Dream,’ including the corrupt Kakha Kaladze, has managed to intimidate representatives of public institutions. This was achieved, among other things, through the demonstrative dismissal of public servants. The situation is very clear—on one side stands the 23% of ‘Georgian Dream,’ and on the opposite side stands 70% of Tbilisi, which wants change. The only thing separating us from change is whether opposition-minded people go to the polls and vote.
The majority of citizens plan to go to the elections. This includes a significant portion of voters from parties that support a boycott. A boycott, by its nature, is a mistake because, under a boycott, we end up with a result where Bidzina Ivanishvili consolidates power across all of Georgia—all city mayors and councils will fall entirely into Ivanishvili’s hands.
If you are an opposition supporter, if you want to either defeat Ivanishvili or at least weaken him and take some power away from him, then your choice must be to first go to the elections and then join the protest resistance.
We stand out with the most responsible strategy, saying that we should use this battlefield as well as the opportunities for protests. If you want to defeat Ivanishvili, this is the strategically correct path!
By defeating him in the capital, Ivanishvili will lose his greatest stronghold across Georgia. If you don’t go to the elections, you are helping him—not only do you fail to win, but you also don’t force the government to make mistakes. By not going to the polls, you proportionally increase support for Kakha Kaladze,” stated Irakli Kupradze.
In this context, Kupradze emphasized that if citizens shirk their responsibility for change through elections, the responsibility will be shared by both the parties, including those supporting a boycott, and the citizens.
Kupradze called the boycott of local elections a “strategic mistake.”
“On one side is the fight and the principle that fighting always makes sense, while on the other side is the strategic mistake called a boycott. When you are fighting an autocrat who systematically opposes and fights against Georgian citizens, you must not make a strategic mistake. I am convinced that plans—whether propaganda or special operations against the Georgian people—are not devised in the ‘Georgian Dream’ office but in the FSB and GRU, and then come as assignments to the ‘Georgian Dream’ offices. An unimaginable operation in the Russian style is being carried out against Georgian citizens,” Kupradze stated.
According to Kupradze, “Lelo – Strong Georgia” will also be present at the October 4 protest.
“We will be where Georgian citizens gather to protest against the anti-Georgian ‘Dream.’
The October 4 protest must absolutely be peaceful. Peacefulness depends on how the government, the anti-Georgian ‘Dream,’ behaves toward citizens.
Unfortunately, we don’t know the specific plan or who, besides Paata Burchuladze, is responsible for the processes. However, we consider it crucial to be where our citizens stand and protest against the Russian regime, where they demand new parliamentary elections and the release of political prisoners, and where the main message is ‘Bidzina, go!’ We will support all such protests,” stated Irakli Kupradze.
Irakli Kupradze: Our message on how to act on October 4 is as follows: in the morning, go to the elections – in the evening, support the protests! If every opposition-minded voter in Tbilisi goes to the polls, Kakha Kaladze will be defeated in the first round
