Ruling party head says President “committing a crime” as her rally for EU Integration was “absolutely unprepared”

Head of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze accused the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili of “committing a crime” for holding an “absolutely unprepared rally” for the country’s EU integration on Thursday which was attended “only 300 people when the country’s 85 percent support the EU membership.”

 “When you come up with such an unprepared initiative, you should at least ask someone,” Kobakhidze said on Friday, suggesting that the President’s Office did not even warn Tbilisi City Hall to block the traffic.

 “When 85 percent of the population supports the country’s European integration and 300 people attend a rally, this  is a crime, I would say it directly,” Kobakhidze said.

Zourabichvili announced the rally from Brussels earlier this week when she claimed that the government had refused to allow her meetings in Brussels.

She also accused the Georgian Dream authorities of “doing a bad job” amid the country’s bid for EU membership and ahead of the decision of the European Commission on Georgia’s candidate status.

In her address from Brussels, the President called on the opposition and NGOs to postpone their rally for European Integration planned on June 20. However, the rally will be held on Monday.