Georgian Vice Speaker urges translation of Saakashvili-era report to ‘help foreign officials understand’ anti-UNM sentiments

Georgia’s Vice Speaker of Parliament and head of the temporary investigative commission, Thea Tsulukiani, has called for the commission’s final report on the 2003–2012 United National Movement (UNM) government to be translated into English, claiming it was “essential for foreign officials to understand why most Georgians reject the return of that political force.”

Speaking at the commission’s final session on Monday, Tsulukiani said many statements by foreign representatives had revealed a lack of understanding of Georgia’s recent past and the “trauma experienced” by citizens under the former UNM-led administration.

“Whoever reads this report will realise that some of the assessments made by foreign representatives are often incomprehensible to Georgian citizens - especially those who lived through and suffered from the abuses of the previous regime,” she said.

Tsulukiani further argued that the commission’s findings would help clarify why a significant majority of Georgians remained firmly opposed to the return of UNM or its affiliates to power.

“The foreign representatives often have no idea what kind of reality Georgia lived through between 2003 and 2012. This report must be translated to help them understand our country and our people - those who today form the majority and do not want to see the UNM back in government,” she added.

The official proposed initiating procedures to translate and publish the document, which she described as “entirely evidence-based.”

“Since they do not speak Georgian, it is only logical that we provide the report at least in English,” Tsulukiani added.

Fellow commission member and Defence and Security Committee chair Aleksandre Tabatadze backed her remarks, calling the report “a unique and thoroughly documented account of one of the darkest periods in Georgia’s modern history.”

“The work of this commission was followed closely by the public, especially young people,” Tabatadze said. “The material we’ve compiled is grounded in real facts, and it should serve as a reminder of why such a regime must never return.”

The commission, established to investigate political abuse and misconduct by former UNM officials, concluded its six-month mandate amid ongoing debate over Georgia’s democratic trajectory and external pressure for reforms.