Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the parliament, on Wednesday said the president Salome Zourabichvili seemed to be “afraid” of the public reaction if she decided to pardon imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili. 

“The president is afraid of the public opinion. She knows that the majority of society is against something. Maybe she wants to take a step and that is why she can not do it”, Mdinaradze said. 

Zourabichvili on Tuesday slammed  the ruling party top figures for “exerting pressure on her” over the pardon issue. 

In her previous comments Zourabichvili said had no plans to pardon Saakashvili. However, she also said Saakashvili’s imprisonment created threats for the country’s European integration process.