Ruling party MP accuses opposition of taking orders from abroad over silence on Chinese vice-president's visit

Levan Machavariani, first deputy chairman of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, has accused opposition parties of being coordinated by foreign forces, claiming their lack of public comment on Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng's recent visit to Georgia demonstrated external control.

In a statement published on social media on Monday, Machavariani said he had expected opposition leaders to respond to the high-level visit but accused them of deliberately remaining silent. He described the silence as evidence that opposition parties were acting under instructions from abroad.

Han Zheng visited Georgia from 6 to 8 November, meeting President Mikheil Kavelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The visit focused on strengthening bilateral political and economic cooperation between Tbilisi and Beijing.

Machavariani described the visit as an important opportunity to deepen trade, economic and strategic ties, noting that it was the first visit to Georgia by a Chinese vice-president at this level.

He also linked the opposition's alleged silence to ongoing proceedings at Georgia's Constitutional Court concerning a government initiative to ban several opposition parties, including those “associated” with the United National Movement.

Machavariani said the developments provided further grounds for questioning the opposition's political independence, reiterating his claim that the parties were acting in coordination under foreign direction.