Irakli Garibashvili, Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party and former Prime Minister, on Thursday denied recent media claims regarding his departure from the party and allegations of violence. In an interview with Rustavi 2, Garibashvili labeled the reports as “absurd slander” and “lies.”
“Information was spread in the media that I left the party as a sign of protest, that I separated myself from the team, that I protested something, especially during this crisis, against the backdrop of the very big challenges facing our country,” said Garibashvili.
“This is absurd. Those who know me, and I think everyone knows me well, this is not my handwriting. I have my rules, principles. I have lived by these rules my entire conscious life and I will never deviate from them.”
Garibashvili also addressed statements from Giorgi Bachiashvili, the former head of the Co-Investment Fund, who had claimed that Garibashvili was bullied by his colleagues for leaving the party.
He dismissed these allegations as “disgusting lies” and took aim at Bachiashvili and former PM Giorgi Gakharia, calling them “traitors.”
“Every person may have the need to go to the doctor, because I received a very minor injury during training, and they invented such a big scandal and disgusting, insulting lies about it. Therefore, all this is a very big lie,” Garibashvili claimed.
These comments follow media reports about Garibashvili’s absence from the public eye and a supposed physical confrontation within the ruling party.
Mtavari Arkhi reported that Garibashvili had been taken to an American hospital and suggested there had been a physical altercation. Giorgi Bachiashvili also claimed that Garibashvili had not been seen in the office for over two weeks, fueling speculation about the cause of his injury.
On December 11, the Georgian Dream party claimed that Garibashvili had suffered a minor shoulder injury during training, which required medical assistance at an American hospital.
