UNM’s Dekanoidze calls for coordinated opposition unity against ‘repressive laws’

One of the leaders of the United National Movement, Khatia Dekanoidze, on Thursday called for a coordinated and united approach among Georgia’s pro-Western opposition forces, saying all key decisions should be taken by majority vote.

Dekanoidze said the opposition must work together to force the Government to withdraw what she described as “draconian laws” and to dismantle what she called a “Russian regime”.

She added the repressive legislation promoted by the ruling Georgian Dream party reflects what she characterised as another “whim” of its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

“The adoption of new repressive laws is not even necessary for Georgian Dream in order to arrest representatives of still-free political parties. This is simply their complex - a paranoid whim of Ivanishvili and of his proxies, aimed at forcing the Georgian people to recognise them as equals,” Dekanoidze said.

She added that, in the current circumstances, it is “extremely important, even vital” for the opposition to act in a coordinated manner.

“The Georgian opposition, which once brought democracy to the country and which is now struggling to survive, must be coordinated and united. There should be a common, coordinated unity, and all decisions within the pro-Western opposition should be made by a majority vote,” she said.

Dekanoidze stressed that the opposition must be capable of compelling what she called “Ivanishvili’s band” to repeal the legislation and to bring an end to what she described as a pro-Russian political system in Georgia.