Opposition leader Vashadze: president no longer hiding problems in gov’t

Georgian opposition leader, head of Strategy Agmashenebeli, Giorgi Vashadze says that President Salome Zurabishvili no longer hides there are problems in the government, ‘including the country’s European integration prospects.’

 

Vashadze’s comments come on the heels of the president’s annual report in the state legislature today, where she appeared with charge d’affaires of Ukraine, criticizing the MPs for their position towards Russia-Ukraine war.

 

Vashadze welcomed the president’s initiative on the creation of an expanded format of the state security council with the involvement of the opposition and the formation of the State Minister’s Office for European Integration, noting that the “president was not right when she said all opposition parties acted in a same manner.’

 

 He said that the president should have pushed forward the issue of the April 2021 EU-mediated agreement  which resolved a six-month political standoff in Georgia, offering large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.

 

The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew from the agreement in July of 2021, blaming the United National Movement opposition party for not joining it.

 

Vashadze said that the fulfillment of the agreement ‘is crucial’ for the country’s European integration, following the Georgian government’s move to apply for membership to the bloc.