Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has called the ruling Georgian Dream party a “nightmare”, pointing out that the U-turn on the European path “is a tragedy” for the country. Zurabishvili made the statement on Monday while addressing the participants of the Tbilisi International Conference.
“This year is a very, very special time - not just an important moment, but a decisive one and one that is existential for Georgia. I am not sure if there have been decisive moments like the one we will face on October 26 in the recent past. Georgia is indeed at a turning point. “The Georgian Dream is no longer a dream, it has become a nightmare that is taking Georgia away from what was its longtime goal - not a dream, but a goal,” she said.
According to the President, the leaders of the GM have become “confused” and now “do not know where their main orientation is.” She recalled that those call the main partners “the party of war” but say nothing about “a neighboring country that occupies 20% of our territory.”
“When we listen to the latest speeches of the honorable chairman of the Georgian Dream, who actually declares war first to our partners, calling them a 'party of war' and then to our own population and political forces in the country, we see where we are heading. When it is announced in advance that they are going to secure a constitutional majority - which is their dream - and they will expel political parties or betray them to a justice system that no longer exists, (...) all this is unacceptable,” Zurabishvili said.
“Moving at an accelerated pace towards something completely alien” is also unacceptable for the Georgian people, she added. The head of state is confident that after the mass protests, the country's citizens will fix their position in the ballots.
“There is no power in this country that can overpower the will of the people. There is no possibility to falsify elections to such an extent to go against the mass will of the Georgian population. And I believe that the Georgian people will make their voice be heard in the elections,” she said.
The President reminded about her initiative - “Georgian Charter”. She proposes that if the Georgian Dream is defeated, the opposition should create a temporary coalition government and implement broad reforms.
“Once the Georgian people do what they need to do, we will need your support more than ever for the next stage of our development. We need to do this in a stable environment, and you need a Georgia that decisively returns to its democratic path, a Georgia that is a stable partner, a Georgia that you can trust,” Zurabishvili said, addressing European and American politicians and experts who traveled to the conference in Tbilisi.
The McCain Institute for International Leadership, the George W. Bush Institute and the Center for Economic Policy Research are holding an international conference in Tbilisi for the eighth time. This year, the main theme of the forum is the upcoming elections in Georgia and the United States, and the slogan is “The Year of Breakthrough”. With the participation of American and European politicians and experts on September 2 and 3, the conference discusses global security, foreign policy and the future of democracy in the light of current political changes and events.
“Georgian Dream” did not send its representatives to the conference for the third year.
Irakli Zarkua, a member of the parliamentary majority, called the forum “a waste of time and money” that “annually gathers local mavericks, agents and some failed diplomats.”
Reprinted from https://www.newsgeorgia.ge/
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