Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday claimed the For Georgia party, founded by former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, was affiliated with the United National Movement opposition party, accusing them of taking actions against the country’s European Integration.
In his comments for the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Kobakhidze accused Gakharia, the former interior and the prime minister under the GD, of “fulfilling the assignments” while in office which he said had benefited the interests of the “radical wing” of the domestic opposition.
Providing an example, the lawmaker pointed to the dispersal of June 2019 protests in Tbilisi which were sparked by the presence of Russian MPs in the country’s legislature when Kobakhidze served as the body’s chairman and Gakharia as interior minister, while the latter was praised by the ruling party top figures for “saving the country from a coup and unrest” following the chackdown of rallies.
Claiming the Lelo, For Georgia, Girchi – More Freedom and Strategy Agmashenebeli opposition parties were the “affiliates” of the UNM, Kobakhidze labeled them as a “global war party”, who he said were taking actions to make an influence on any of the 27 EU member states to hamper the country’s obtaining the bloc’s membership candidate status by the end of this year.
The For Georgia party, which was inaugurated in May 2021 shortly after Gakharia’s resignation as the PM and leaving the GD in February due to controversies with the party leadership, has many times accused the ruling party authorities of raising “unfounded” allegations against Gakharia without providing “any evidence” to back them.
In his social media posts, Gakharia has several times accused the GD of pursuing the “pro-Kremlin” agenda and derailing the country from its western course, with the party representatives claiming both the GD and other opposition parties were combating them due to rising ratings.
