Ruling party declines President’s initiative due to her “affiliation” with opposition

Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the Georgian Dream ruling party, on Wednesday said neither he nor other members of the party’s management team would be attending an event with President Salome Zourabichvili, where she will hand over signatures collected for Georgia’s EU candidacy to dip corps this week, despite her invitation.

Kobakhidze emphasized the United National Movement representatives – from the largest opposition group in power between 2004-2012 –  not the Georgian Dream party, would engage with the President, stating, “it is their place there, not ours.” 

The decision stems from a growing lack of trust in Zourabichvili within the parliamentary majority. Notably, 80 MPs supported her impeachment earlier this year for non-authorized EU trip, although she retained her position due to opposition’s denial to join the process. 

“Zourabichvili has become the president of the National Movement. You know that the parliamentary majority no longer trusts her,” Kobakhidze said. He went on to highlight the perception that Zourabichvili, in the role of president, “aligned more” with the National Movement than with the broader interests of Georgia.

The chairman also accused the President of “sabotaging” the process of obtaining candidate status, asserting, “everyone knows everything, including the ambassadors.” He argued that the ruling team’s decision not to attend events with the “president of the National Movement” was grounded in political expediency rather than a diplomatic breach.

While acknowledging the diplomatic etiquette that ambassadors were obliged to follow, Kobakhidze argued, “ambassadors have their own etiquette and they are obliged to go to the head of state, because Zourabichvili is still formally the head of state.”