Machavariani on confrontation at Tbilisi election headquarters: ‘difficult to restrain people amid targeted provocation’

Levan Machavariani, head of Tbilisi’s election headquarters, commented on the recent confrontation outside the Georgian Dream party’s office and warned of ongoing provocations.

Machavariani described the incident as “a well-planned provocation” and noted that it was not the first time individuals gathered in front of the election headquarters using abusive and offensive language.

“We will do our utmost to ensure that no one leaves the headquarters if such provocations continue today. We are making every effort to keep people inside the office physically safe. However, I must emphasise that, despite our efforts, it is very difficult to restrain people when such targeted provocations occur,” Machavariani said.

He added that the nature of insults has intensified. “In the past, the message box contained only ‘Russian’ insults. Now, it has escalated to include offensive remarks about someone’s mother, which makes it extremely hard to control a person when their mother is being insulted. I am referring to ethnic Georgians; for the ‘agitators,’ who are ethnically Georgian but have nothing Georgian in their blood, such insults about mothers might be routine and not a problem for them,” Machavariani stated.

The election headquarters chief stressed that the team will continue to maintain order and avoid escalation, even amid ongoing provocations.