For Georgia’s Kemoklidze: it’s clearer now why Gakharia quit premiership

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, a member of the former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party, has told the local TV Pirveli channel that “it is clearer now why Gakharia resigned” last year,claiming that latter “had acted based on state interests” and “unlike the current authorities” refused to “accept the demands” coming from the founder of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, dubbed an “informal ruler” of the country by the domestic opposition.

In his interview on the weekend, former security official Kemoklidze stressed that the GD tried to connect Gakharia’s resignation with the opposition United National Movement head Nika Melia, while the “genuine reason” was Gakharia’s decision to “act in line with state interests”. 

Gakharia resigned in February 2021, citing controversies with the GD as the reason, stating that Melia deserved imprisonment for his refusal to post bail in one of the cases involving the opposition leader, but noted that the arrest would add to the crisis sparked in the country following the 2020 parliamentary elections. 

The majority of opposition parties refused to take up their mandates in the wake of the elections, accusing the GD of rigging the race. 

The almost six-month political standoff was resolved by signing the EU-mediated agreement in April of the last year.