Georgian ruling party leader responds sarcastically to RSF report ranking Georgia near bottom in Europe

Irakli Kirtskhalia, leader of the parliamentary majority, has responded to the latest Reporters Without Borders (RSF) assessment, which ranked Georgia fourth from the bottom in Europe for press freedom.

Kirkchalía issued an ironic statement on social media Thursday, calling the ranking “alarming” and suggesting that the government must “immediately remove unprecedented pressure on the media.”

He wrote that journalists had recently shown “fear and reluctance to ask critical questions, even in private conversations,” and mockingly proposed that all previously closed media outlets be reopened. He went on to suggest that opening a new TV channel should be possible “without even leaving any district party office.”

In his remarks, Kirtskhalia added that [opposition leaning] journalists such as Nodar Meladze should be allowed to “throw any politician out the window without explanation,” while politicians should be legally obliged to “answer any question while still in mid-air.”

Continuing the ironic tone, he said that TV channel Imedi should be handed over to the United National Movement, Rustavi 2 to Lelo, PostTV to Nika Gvaramia, and GDS to Giorgi Gakharia.

“We must urgently return to the level of press freedom we had before 2012 - we must achieve this!” he said.

Regarding RSF itself, Kirtskhalia wrote that the organisation should be declared “the most objective evaluator in the world.”

He ended his post by urging supporters to refrain from what he described as “non-European and provincial comments” such as “let them walk around with that truth.”