Georgian Dream Majority Leader Says Georgia Cannot Move Forward Until Political System Is Cleared of ‘Foreign Agents’

Georgia’s parliamentary majority leader, Irakli Kirtskhalia, has said the country cannot achieve sustainable political progress until what he described as “foreign agents” are removed from its political landscape, defending a constitutional lawsuit targeting opposition parties.

Speaking on Imedi television, Kirtskhalia said the ruling Georgian Dream party was fulfilling what he called a public demand to eliminate foreign influence from Georgian politics.

“We are fulfilling the mandate given to us by society, which has made it clear that there is no place for foreign agents in Georgia, particularly in the political arena. Until these agents are eliminated and the political landscape is cleared of them, our country will not be able to move forward in a healthy and fully effective manner,” Kirtskhalia said.

He stressed that a functioning political opposition was essential for the country’s development but argued that Georgia had been deprived of what he considered a constructive opposition.

According to Kirtskhalia, opposition parties should have supported the government in maintaining peace at a time when, he claimed, attempts were being made to draw Georgia into a war.

Instead, he alleged, the country had faced radical political groups that had attempted to stage a revolution on five separate occasions.

“They were setting government buildings on fire, and they were doing so alongside ambassadors. When you recognise someone who throws a Molotov cocktail as a hero and carry banners supporting them, that amounts to participating in those actions. We did not need to see [EU Ambassador] Herczynski physically holding a Molotov cocktail on Rustaveli Avenue,” Kirtskhalia said.

His remarks referred to EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski, whom the parliamentary majority leader accused of indirectly legitimising violent anti-government actions.

Kirtskhalia also criticised opposition parties named in the constitutional lawsuit, accusing them of refusing to recognise Georgia’s constitutional order and the legitimacy of its institutions.

He pointed to opposition politicians’ descriptions of parliament as a “so-called parliament” and their dismissal of the constitutional proceedings as a meaningless piece of paper.

“When they refer to the constitutional lawsuit as a mere piece of paper, call parliament a so-called parliament and openly refuse to recognise the constitutional order, they themselves demonstrate their attitude towards the state,” he said.

Kirtskhalia argued that such statements amounted to a rejection of the country’s constitutional framework.

“When a politician whose parliamentary mandate has been revoked declares that a Constitutional Court ruling is nothing more than a piece of paper to them, that is a rejection of the constitutional order,” he said.

The parliamentary majority leader maintained that removing what he described as foreign-backed political forces was necessary to ensure Georgia’s political stability and long-term development.