30 Oct, 2023

Today, the wealthy and their affiliated NGOs published a letter in which they reprimanded the Georgian authorities for leaving the American sanctions without responding. As reported to the public  7 months ago, visa restrictions were imposed on several current and former Georgian judges on behalf of the United States State Department. The Georgian authorities tried to obtain evidence from the partners to support the relevant charges, but to no avail. Moreover, we heard a completely unconvincing explanation that the imposition of visa restrictions for judges was based on information received from open sources, namely, televisions, newspapers and other mass media. Also, 6 weeks ago  the citizen of Georgia, Otar Partskhaladze, was included in the American list of sanctioned persons. As the head of the State Security Service of Georgia explained at the parliament session, the service requested relevant evidence from its partners. However, as it turned out, the Georgian authorities did not receive any evidence neither in official or private meetings, nor  through open and closed channels. Moreover, the partners themselves asked the Georgian agencies to obtain and send evidence on the case of Partskhaladze. This information shows that the imposition of visa restrictions for judges and the inclusion of Otar Partskhaladze in the list of sanctioned persons were not based on any facts or evidence. In the past, there were frequent cases when our strategic partner faced awkward situation due to the irresponsible actions of rich NGOs.  Even consider the scandal associated with the results of parallel voting in the elections, for which one of the rich NGO  created the greatest inconvenience. A couple of weeks ago the new Ambassador of the United States of America  Mrs. Robin Dunigan  arrived in Georgia, with whom senior representatives of our government have already held very productive meetings. We have a strong  basis for optimism that the Georgian-American strategic partnership will deepen significantly during Ambassador Robin Dunnigan's tenure. In this situation the statement of the wealthy NGOs is a step against the positive efforts of the ambassador, the obvious purpose of which is to maintain unwanted misunderstandings in Georgian-American relations. The imposition of visa restrictions on judges without evidence has created serious discomfort in relations. The respective efforts of the NGOs  were dictated by the interest in gaining control over the judiciary  among other objectives. However, we tried our best not to bring this issue to the fore in public discussion, so as not to deepen the embarrassment. With this background, when rich NGOs  themselves are trying to actualize their own improbity, we think this fact deserves special concern. Exactly the same forces that have been providing distorted information to our partners for a long time, who  actively agitating against the granting of candidate status to Georgia, are today trying to keep the old artificial inconveniences on the agenda and thereby create new inconveniences, forcing us to not  ignore their actions without responding. It is also significant that the rich NGOs are making the above-mentioned statement against the backdrop of the country waiting for the decision of the European Commission on the status of a candidate. Attacking the authorities a week before the announcement of the decision of the European Commission is nothing more than another rough action directed against the granting of candidate status to Georgia. It can be seen from everything that rich NGOs do not serve the interests of Georgia, America or Europe. In fact, they serve the "global war party", whose main goal is the Ukrainization of Georgia. The mentioned force and the NGOs in its service do not want to deepen the Georgian-American relations and are trying in every way to maintain the old, negative trend in these relations, which we cannot allow. These NGOs protested against the law on "Transparency of foreign financing" and did not want to make their foreign financing transparent to the public, fearing that their anti-state plans and sources of financing would be revealed. Now, rich NGOs are trying not to allow the new American ambassador to reset relations and, on the contrary, to damage these relations in some way. We hope that Robin Dunnigan will not actively react to all the actions that are directed against the deepening of relations between the two countries.. We are confident that under Ambassador Robyn Dunnigan, Georgian-American relations and strategic partnership will deepen significantly, for which the management team will make every effort.

18 Sep, 2023

After the conclusion of the session of the parliamentary majority, which was held at the head office of the Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the party and the leader of the parliamentary majority, made a statement. “Today, as you know, the session of the parliamentary majority took place. As per tradition, we discussed various topics there, including issues of the parliamentary agenda. Of course, the discussion touched on the statement of the State Security Service. The information released by the State Security Service is really concerning. Of course, all measures should be taken in order to put a stop to any attempt to disrupt the state of affairs, any provocation, especially the grave provocations that were discussed in the information released by the State Security Service. Also, our discussion touched on topics pertaining to the European Union. As you know, meetings were held one week ago and, correspondingly, negotiations were held with representatives of the European Commission, including Mr. Josep Borrell, as well as with other high-ranking officials of the European Commission. Four issues were identified during these meetings, in connection with which the European Commission wants to see progress by the end of September of this year. The Government of Georgia will fully respond to the expectations of the European Commission in all four areas – we agreed on this today at the meeting of the majority, and I would like to address all four issues: After the meetings with the representatives of the European Commission, in accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, the Commission for the Integration of Georgia into the European Union under the Government of Georgia has already approved the draft action plan for deoligarchization, which will be finalized after additional consultations with the European Commission. In addition, the draft action plan will be sent to the Venice Commission by the end of this week – this was also one of the recommendations of the European Commission. Given the approval of the action plan, the law “On Deoligarchization” adopted by the Parliament in two hearings has lost its practical relevance. Therefore, also in accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, the Parliament will consider the said draft law – which was based on the so-called personalized approach – in the third reading tomorrow and will not adopt it. At the same time, we call on the European Commission to reject the personalized approach, which was reflected in the 12 priorities, and which was actively used for speculation by both the opposition in Georgia and the MEPs and other foreign politicians connected with it. This was the first issue. With regard to deoligarchization, we are in full compliance with the requirement of the European Commission. During the meetings with representatives of the European Commission, the additional amendments to be made to the Organic Law “On Common Courts” were also discussed. Taking into account the consultations, the parliamentary majority has already developed the relevant draft law, which will be reviewed and sent to the Venice Commission by the end of this week. This was also one of the requirements of the European Commission, which we have also fully met. As you know, draft amendments to the “Election Code” have been initiated in the Parliament of Georgia, which deals with the issue of electing the CEC chairperson and its members. The Parliament will consider and adopt this law in the first reading during the current session week. In accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, the draft law will also be sent to the Venice Commission by the end of this week. In accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, the legislation related to the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Special Investigation Service, and the Personal Data Protection Service will be sent to the Venice Commission by the end of this week. That is, there were four main recommendations voiced by Borrell, Koopman, high representatives of the European Commission, and we have acted on all four issues, we have an appropriate response for all topics.In addition, in accordance with the recommendation of the European Commission, in line with the recommendations of MONEYVAL, a national risk assessment document on money laundering will be approved in the near future;Also, an initial draft of the Human Rights Strategy Action Plan will be prepared;Also, information on the investigation related to the identification and prosecution of the organizers of the violence that took place on 5 July 2021 will be sent to the European Commission;Both general and specialized coordination meetings with nongovernmental organizations will continue.These were the four additional recommendations presented to us by the European Commission, and we responded to all four recommendations accordingly.As you can see, the Government of Georgia is doing everything in order not to leave even the smallest reason for Georgia the Georgian people, and the Government of Georgia to be refused candidate status once again.We hope that the European Council will make a fair decision in December, which will deprive the radical opposition of the artificial pretext for inciting radicalism in the country, and will qualitatively reduce so-called polarization, whose retention can only be in the interests of those who wish Georgia ill.”

11 May, 2023

29 Jan, 2023

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze was presented with the top award of the Sabino Arana Foundation in Bilbao. The chairman of the ruling party was presented with the award for deepening Georgian-Basque friendship, protecting democracy and human rights. The event was organized by the ruling party of the Basque Country in the Theater of Bilbao. Irakli Kobakhidze addressed the participants of the event with a speech. “First of all, I would like to sincerely thank the Sabino Arana Foundation for the award. It is a great honor for me to be a person who is committed to friendship with Basques and the Basque Country. I represent a small but very proud country, Georgia. My nation has had to struggle for centuries to protect its identity, land, religion, and language. That is why we, Georgians, especially value patriotism and people loyal to their homeland. Accordingly, I am very proud to receive the award named after the great patriot Sabino Arana. Several scientific conclusions prove that there is a historic connection between Basques and Georgians. Although the geographical distance between the Basque Country and Georgia is quite large, there are obvious similarities in culture, traditions, and folklore. Winemaking is an essential characteristic of our cultures, which indicates that we share common roots. Also, Georgian and Basque languages are structurally close to each other. Georgians are well aware of this connection, and they are very proud of it. This connection motivated previous generations of Georgians, as well as my colleagues and I, to support the further deepening of friendship between our peoples. Tbilisi and Bilbao, Vitoria and Kutaisi, Laguardia and Gurjaani have been sister cities for decades. A Basque language department has been established at Tbilisi State University. There is a continuous partnership but there is also a great deal of space for further development of cooperation in the fields of culture, education, sports, tourism, gastronomy, and investment. Allow me to note that we have planted several Guernica trees throughout Georgia as a symbol of the strong bond and friendship between the Basque and Georgian peoples. You have a very beautiful country with remarkably beautiful nature, landscapes, cities, and villages. But the most valuable beauty of the Basque Country is its warm people. Each Basque we met motivated us even more to strengthen our friendship. Thank you very much for this! My country, Georgia, is currently facing several fundamental challenges. Twenty percent of our territory is occupied by the Russian Federation, and its peaceful de-occupation is one of the main national goals of my people. In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, there was a danger that the military conflict would spread to Georgia as well. It was the main goal of our government to avoid war in our country and we have achieved it successfully. Georgia firmly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and condemns Russia’s military aggression in all international forums. At the same time, we are pursuing a pragmatic policy in order to prevent escalation and promote peace in the region. Georgia is also trying to be the facilitator between two neighboring countries, Armenia and Azerbaijan. And finally, we believe that peace and development has no alternative, and that all nations must consistently follow this path. Despite being a small country, Georgia plays an important role for the international community, both politically and economically. Geographically, Georgia connects Europe with Asia and has great potential to further develop its transit function and capabilities. With a liberal economic policy, we provide fertile ground for economic activity and investment in our country. Thanks to peace and consistent policies, we managed to achieve double-digit economic growth in 2021 and 2022. With this trend, Georgia is becoming an even more attractive country for cooperation for all its friends and partners. Our goal is to become a full member of the European Union. We applied officially and hopefully Georgia will receive EU candidate status in December of this year. Your support is very important in achieving this goal. Overall, the general context also provides fertile ground for further strengthening of friendship and development of cooperation between the Basque Country and Georgia. I consider it my responsibility to do my best to support this positive trend.  Allow me to once again thank the Sabino Arana Foundation and all our Basque colleagues for the award as well as for friendship and hospitality,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated.

23 Jan, 2023

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze met with Tiny Kox, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg. Irakli Kobakhidze congratulated Tiny Kox on his election to the position of President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for a second term. Tiny Kox, in turn, thanked Irakli Kobakhidze for his support. It was noted at the meeting that the Council of Europe fully supports Georgia in the process of implementing the 12-point plan. The progress made in the area of reforms in Georgia was emphasized. The discussion also touched on the ongoing political processes in the region. In addition to the head of the ruling party, the meeting was attended by Georgian Parliamentary Delegation Head Irakli Chikovani and Georgian Ambassador to the Council of Europe Tamar Taliashvili.

23 Jan, 2023

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze met with Marija Buric, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg. Delegation Head Irakli Chikovani and Tamar Taliashvili, Ambassador of Georgia to the Council of Europe attended the meeting together with the head of the ruling party. At the meeting, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe thanked the Georgian delegation for its active work. The discussion touched on the importance of the Council of Europe’s support for Georgia. Marija Buric stressed Georgia’s significant progress in the area of reforms and noted that the Council of Europe fully supports Georgia in the process of implementing the 12-point plan. During the meeting, Irakli Kobakhidze and Marija Buric also discussed the political situation in the region.

11 Jan, 2023

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze met with Pawel Herczynski, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia. At the meeting held in the central office of the Georgian Dream, the Chairman of the ruling party and the Ambassador of the European Union spoke about the processes taking place in connection with the deepening of future cooperation between Georgia and the European Union and the implementation of the 12 recommendations of the European Commission. The discussion also touched on the political situation in Georgia.

01 Jan, 2023

ანგარიში ევროკავშირის 12 პრიორიტეტის შესრულების თაობაზე

21 Dec, 2022

A session of the parliamentary majority was held at the central office of the Georgian Dream. Members of the ruling team discussed several important issues during the session. A decision to continue working has been made regarding the issue of candidates for the positions of Public Defender and member of the High Council of Justice. Therefore, tomorrow’s vote will be purely formal, and no candidate will have the support of members of the majority. “The process was derailed by the opposition’s use of ultimatums during the selection process and, correspondingly, by their deliberate disruption of the work process. Opponents did not want to state their support for any candidate; therefore, we will not be able to elect either an ombudsman or a member of the Council of Justice. The ruling team will try again to eliminate this shortcoming by the spring session and to reach a consensus regarding the candidates,” Georgian Dream Faction Chairman Mamuka Mdinaradze stated. In addition, the hearing of the reports by the National Statistics Office and the National Communications Commission will be held tomorrow.

12 Dec, 2022

Parliamentary Majority Session Held at Georgian Dream Head Office  A session of the parliamentary majority was held at the central office of the Georgian Dream. Members of the majority discussed the issues initiated by Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili at today’s session of the government. The parliamentary majority fully supports the Government of Georgia and the Prime Minister in the implementation of these issues. Regarding the issue of the public defender, the majority will present its position to representatives of the opposition at tomorrow’s meeting. The discussion during the session touched on the issues to be considered at the plenary sessions of the ongoing session week. This week, Parliament deputies will hear Tea Akhvlediani, state minister on issues of reconciliation and civil equality, and Justice Minister Rati Bregadze in the Minister’s Hour format.

28 Nov, 2022

Parliamentary Majority Session Held at Georgian Dream Head Office A session of the parliamentary majority was held at the central office of the Georgian Dream. Majority members discussed the draft law “On Deoligarchization.” By the decision of the majority, the draft law will be sent to the Venice Commission for a legal opinion. The majority will not consider the draft law “On Deoligarchization” in the third hearing before receiving the opinion of the Venice Commission. Members of the majority were briefed about consultations held with the opposition regarding candidates for the position of ombudsman. By the decision of the parliamentary majority, consultations with the opposition will continue in connection with eight candidates for the position of ombudsman. The eight candidates are: Ana Abashidze, Giorgi Burjanadze, Lela Gaprindashvili, Tinatin Erkvania, Nugzar Kokhreidze, Giorgi Mariamidze, Ketevan Chachava, and Iago Khvichia. Members of the majority also discussed issues to be considered at the plenary sessions of the ongoing session week. On 1 December, the Parliament will hear Education and Science Minister Mikheil Chkhenkeli in the Minister’s Hour format.

14 Oct, 2022

Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream party, met with Lars Klingbeil, co-chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. During the meeting, they discussed Germany’s role and support in the process of Georgia’s EU integration and deepening mutual cooperation. “A very friendly and productive meeting was held with Lars Klingbeil, chairman of the  Social Democratic Party of Germany. We discussed cooperation between the parties as well as the importance of Germany’s support. It was noted during the meeting that Germany supports our European integration and that everything will be done to ensure that we are successful on this path. Deepening party cooperation between our party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany is very important to us; this will facilitate the further deepening of relations between the two countries,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated. The meeting was attended by members of the Georgian Dream delegation: Maka Botchorishvili, chairwoman of the Parliament’s European Integration Committee, Irakli Chikovani, deputy chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, and Georgian Ambassador to Germany Levan Izoria.

14 Oct, 2022

On 14-15 October, the delegation of the Georgian Dream, led by Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze, will participate in the International Congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Berlin. The delegation includes Maka Botchorishvili, chairwoman of the European Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, Irakli Chikovani, deputy chairman of the Georgian Dream faction, and Nino Tsilosani, chairwoman of the Georgian Dream’s Women’s Organization, the Agrarian Issues Committee, and the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council. “We talk with our partners about Georgia’s European Future, its European perspective, the processes related to candidate status, and, of course, we talk about the fact that Germany’s role and support is particularly important in this process. Members of the Bundestag are well-informed about the ongoing process, including in terms of the 12 points; however, we provide them with much more in-depth information on how the process will unfold and how we see Georgia being granted candidate status. Leaders from practically all European countries are represented at the Congress, including leaders of ruling parties and prime ministers and, naturally, their role is very important in terms of both strengthening Europe in general and highlighting Georgia’s role in the common European family. We will make the most use of this platform in order to bring our message and our national interests to our partners as much as possible,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated.

03 Oct, 2022

A session of the parliamentary majority was held at the head office of the Georgian Dream. Issues to be considered at the plenary sessions of the ongoing week were discussed at the session, which was attended by members of the majority of the Tbilisi City Council. Legislators will discuss amendments to the 2022 state budget of Georgia at the 4 October plenary session. On 5 October, amendments to be made to the Election Code and the Rules of Procedure will be discussed. On 6 October, Levan Davitashvili, the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, will be given the floor in Parliament in the Minister’s Hour format. On 7 October, the Parliament will hear the Public Defender’s report.

01 Oct, 2022

Exactly 10 years ago, on 1 October 2012, the people of Georgia proved that they place the highest value on state sovereignty, democracy, fundamental human rights, dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity, true European values, love of the homeland, and respect for the Church, and that these values stand above all else. Exactly 10 years ago, the people of Georgia, under the leadership of Bidzina Ivanishvili, emerged victorious over the criminal authoritarian regime that fought against and trampled all the aforementioned values. Today, the Georgian state is more sovereign than ever. Precisely as a result of bolstering state sovereignty, the Georgian Dream government is the first government in the most recent 30-year history of Georgia under which the country has not had a war. Maintaining peace in the country, developing the economy, raising the quality of the population’s well-being, firmly protecting human dignity, freedom, and equality, and ensuring the strength of the homeland and the Church are the main principles on which the activities of the Georgian Dream will be based in the future as well. Today, Georgia is facing major challenges. However, we firmly believe that with the support of the Georgian people, we will overcome all difficulties with dignity. Unifying Georgia and bringing prosperity to every family is the dream on which our political movement was founded. We believe that this dream of every patriotic Georgian will come true very soon.

19 Sep, 2022

A session of the parliamentary majority was held at the head office of the Georgian Dream. Members of the majority reviewed the issues to be discussed at the plenary sessions of the ongoing session week. In the ongoing session week, the Parliament will vote on the candidacy of Tsotne Kavlashvili for the position of General Auditor of the State Audit Office, which will receive the support of the parliamentary majority. The majority will also support the proposal of Levan Ioseliani, Parliament deputy from the opposition Citizens party, to elect an ombudsman by open vote. This week, the Parliament will hear Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Culture, Sport, and Youth Thea Tsulukiani within the format of Ministerial Hour, and Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Protection Zurab Azarashvili through the procedure of interpellation. The Parliament will also elect the committee chairmen nominated by the Georgian Dream.

15 Sep, 2022

Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze and Nikoloz Samkharadze, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament met with Pawel Herczynski, the newly appointed Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia. Future cooperation between the European Union and Georgia was discussed at the introductory meeting. In addition, the parties talked about the processes taking place regarding the implementation of European Commission’s 12-point recommendation. The meeting was attended by EU Delegation Deputy Head Asuncion Sanchez Ruiz and Julien Crampes, counsellor to the Ambassador of the European Union.

14 Sep, 2022

As you know, there are three vacant positions of committee chairpersons in the Parliament of Georgia. Today marks the deadline when the Georgian Dream faction must submit candidates for all three vacant positions from among the representatives of its faction, and we are presenting our team’s decision. The following candidates will be presented to the Parliament of Georgia with my signature: Mr. Kakhi Kakhishvili as Chairman of the Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee, Mr. Irakli Medzmariashvili as Chairman of the Sports and Youth Issues Committee, and Mr. Zaza Lominadze as Chairman of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee. I wish all three of them success. I’m certain that the Parliament of Georgia will make the decision to elect them in the next session week.

13 Sep, 2022

As you know, the government is actively working on the implementation of the 12-point plan set out by the European Union, one of the points of which concerns the revision of the Election Code of Georgia. A working group headed by Givi Mikanadze was set up in the Parliament of Georgia in order to implement the relevant reform. A package of draft laws will be developed by the working group in the near future, which will essentially be based on OSCE/ODIHR recommendations and topics discussed in the working group with the involvement of political parties and civil society representatives. Part of the proposals presented in the working group concerned the widespread introduction of electronic technologies in the electoral process. In this regard, the political team of the Georgian Dream discussed – and made a decision on – the widespread introduction of voter registration and voting using electronic equipment from 2024. Last year, the voting procedure in the Krtsanisi District of Tbilisi was carried out using fully electronic means. This year, the midterm Sakrebulo [City Council] elections in eight election precincts of Batumi Municipality were held using electronic equipment. The successful experience of voter registration and voting with the use of modern technologies allows us to implement this initiative on a large scale from 2024. Namely, according to our decision, voter registration and voting will be carried out using electronic equipment in the majority of election precincts, including all cities and large settlements, which covers at least 70 percent of voters. Electronic voting will definitively solidify public confidence in the vote counting process, eliminate the problem of imbalance in election protocols, put an end to speculation about so-called electoral carousels, ensure that the votes of over 70 percent of voters are counted – and the results published – within minutes of the conclusion of the voting process, and eliminate problems pertaining to the falsification of exit polls and parallel vote tabulation (PVT). Correspondingly, our decision of today will be one of the most important constituent parts of the electoral reform, which will minimize the problem of the manipulation of election results. Our initiative will take the shape of a draft law in the coming days, at which point practical steps will be taken to equip polling stations with voting equipment, on the basis of consultations with the Government of Georgia, the CEC, and experts in the field.

10 Sep, 2022

An offsite working meeting of the Georgian Dream’s parliamentary majority and the government team was held at the Ambassadori Hotel in Kachreti. Current political issues and the ruling team’s policy regarding the current issues were discussed at the meeting. Also, the elapsed period since the beginning of 2022 was assessed, and future steps were planned. Special emphasis was placed on the importance of coordinated work by the government and the parliamentary majority in the process of implementing the 12-point plan.

05 Sep, 2022

A session of the parliamentary majority was held in the head office of the Georgian Dream. Members of the majority considered the political processes taking place in the country and issues to be discussed at the plenary sessions of the current session week.

01 Sep, 2022

As you know, the Georgian Dream is actively working to fulfil the 12 points set out by the European Union against the backdrop of sabotage by the radical opposition. Revision of the procedure for electing the General Prosecutor of Georgia is part of the above-mentioned 12 points. In order to fulfil this stipulation, yesterday, the parliamentary majority officially initiated the draft of the constitutional law with the exact content that was agreed upon last year on the basis of consultations held between the majority and the parliamentary opposition. According to the draft law, the Parliament of the next two convocations shall elect the General Prosecutor of Georgia by a majority of three fifths for a term of six years. If the candidate is unable to obtain three fifths of the vote, the General Prosecutor shall be elected by a majority of votes but for a term of one year. This draft law – which has been agreed with the parliamentary opposition – has no analogues in any country of the world. There is a simple reason for this – its content contradicts the logic of the system of governance and basic legal principles, which we will not dwell on today. We will recall only the fact that for this reason, the adoption of the relevant constitutional amendments was stopped last year by our decision. However, due to the fact that the fulfilment of the 12 points set out by the European Union is a special priority for us, we will disregard legal principles as an exception on this one occasion and adopt the new procedure for electing the General Prosecutor without any preconditions. Today we would also like to present to you the Georgian Dream majoritarian deputy candidate in the Senaki Municipality Sakrebulo [City Council] midterm elections. Mr. Zaza Kurashvili will be our candidate in the single-mandate electoral district of Teklati and Chaladidi. Mr. Kurashvili is a loyal and active member of our party who enjoys a high reputation in his community. We are sure that he will definitely win the elections, as a result of which he will represent the interests of both villages in the Senaki Sakrebulo [City Council] with dignity. In addition, we would like to remind you that the Georgian Dream will form a solid majority in Senaki Municipality after the midterm elections, thus ending the almost year-long sabotage that the National Movement and For Georgia, its satellite party, have been carrying out in tandem against the interests of the residents of the municipality. We call on the residents of Teklati and Chaladidi to support Mr. Zaza Kurashvili.

01 Jul, 2022

As you know, the European Union set out 12 items as a condition for granting Georgia candidate status. We would like to remind you that most of the said items are part of the Association Agenda, which was agreed by Georgia and the European Union several months ago. The ruling team will ensure the fulfilment of the 12 items set out by the European Union in the appropriate time and manner in accordance with the following plan: Item 1. Reducing political polarization The first item among the conditions must be viewed as a kind of foundation for the effective implementation of the remaining 11 items. Political polarization is one of the main challenges facing our country, in view of which political discussion is hijacked by issues of secondary importance to the public that are of narrow political significance to various political entities, instead of dealing with issues of importance to the state. To change this situation, first and foremost, it is important to reduce the radical confrontation between political forces and to declare a kind of moratorium on aggressive rhetoric. Of course, we are fully conscious of our responsibility in this regard. Similarly, for the next six months, the opposition should refrain from rhetoric that implies the non-recognition of the authorities’ domestic or foreign legitimacy. The same applies to the media (which, according to the conclusion of OSCE-ODIHR, is one of the main sources of political polarization in Georgia) and nongovernmental organizations (a significant part of which is directly involved in the campaign of polarization). In order to promote depolarization, a Polarization Monitoring Group will be set up under the Parliament of Georgia with the participation of all parliamentary parties, civil society representatives, and international partners. The group will carry out constant monitoring and present a weekly report to the public about the polarization-related situation and trends in the country. The monitoring report will reflect recommendations for political parties, media outlets, nongovernmental organizations, and other entities involved in political processes. The composition and work format of the monitoring group will be specified on the basis of consultations with parliamentary political parties and civil sector representatives. The position held by international partners and their fair and healthy attitude toward polarizing actions will be of special significance in terms of depolarization. The chairman of the Parliament of Georgia will ensure the coordination of the implementation of item 1. Item 2. The effective functioning of state institutions, parliamentary oversight, and election legislation A working group will be established under the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee of the Parliament of Georgia with the participation of representatives of all parliamentary parties and the civil sector. It will provide a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the Parliament’s regulations in the field of parliamentary oversight and will prepare a legislative initiative to correct any shortcomings identified. The corresponding draft law will be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia as an initiative no later than 21 September and will be adopted no later than 1 November. A working group for the revision of the Election Code will be created under the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, which will include Parliament deputies from all parliamentary political parties as well as representatives of the Central Election Commission, the State Audit Service, and the civil sector. Amendments to the Election Code of Georgia will reflect, as appropriate, the recommendations provided by OSCE-ODIHR and the Venice Commission. The corresponding draft law will be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia as an initiative no later than 21 September and will be adopted by the Parliament no later than 13 December. The draft law will be sent to the Venice Commission and OSCE-ODIHR for an opinion prior to passing its second hearing. Item 3. Judicial reform, changing the procedure for the election of the general prosecutor, and the election of non-judge members of the High Council of Justice As you know, a Judicial Reform Working Group has already been set up under the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia that includes the representatives of all parliamentary political parties. The said working group will actively resume its work in the coming days and prepare a strategy and action plan for judicial reform as well as a package of relevant draft laws on the basis of the in-depth analysis of the current situation in the judicial system. The judicial reform strategy and action plan will be prepared and published by 1 October. Legislative amendments will be prepared on its basis and submitted to the Parliament of Georgia as an initiative by 1 November. As soon as the draft law is initiated, it will be sent to the Venice Commission and OSCE-ODIHR for an opinion. The discussion of the draft law in Parliament will begin as soon as the opinions from the Venice Commission and OSCE-ODIHR are received. The draft constitutional law on the procedure for the election of the general prosecutor will be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia by 1 September and will be adopted by the Parliament no later than 29 November. The Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament will coordinate the adoption of the constitutional law. The Parliament of Georgia will begin the selection process of non-judge members of the High Council of Justice no later than 30 September and voting for the election of Council members will take place no later than 15 November. We would like to remind you that the votes of 90 Parliament deputies are required to elect members of the Council. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both the ruling team and the opposition to ensure that they are elected in accordance with the conditions set out by the European Union. Item 4. Anti-corruption measures A working group will be created under the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia that will prepare the concept of the consolidation of anti-corruption functions, as well as proposals for the further institutional strengthening of the Special Investigation Service and the Personal Data Protection Service. The composition of the working group will include Parliament deputies from all parliamentary parties as well as representatives of the Administration of the Government, the Prosecutor’s Office, the State Security Service, and the civil sector. The relevant draft laws will be submitted to the Parliament as initiatives no later than 19 October and they will be adopted by the Parliament by 1 December. Item 5. De-oligarchization A working group will be created under the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Georgia that will include representatives of all parliamentary parties as well as the civil sector. The working group will work on a draft law on de-oligarchization, which will be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia as an initiative no later than 5 October and will be adopted by the Parliament no later than 29 November. Item 6. Combating organized crime and the oversight of law enforcement A working group will be created under the Defense and Security Committee of the Parliament that will include Parliament deputies from all parliamentary parties as well as representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office, the High Council of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service, and the civil sector. By 1 November, the working group will prepare an in-depth assessment of the current situation and develop proposals to remedy shortcomings and further strengthen the fight against organized crime. Items 7 and 8. Ensuring an appropriate media environment, the effective investigation of crimes targeting journalists, and effective response to violence against vulnerable groups The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament, in cooperation with the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will ensure the public availability of information about the investigation of all relevant cases. Item 9. Gender equality and violence against women The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia and the Gender Equality Council will actively work toward preparing legislative proposals to promote gender equality and ensure an even more effective fight against violence targeting women. The relevant package of draft laws will be submitted to the Parliament as an initiative no later than 5 October and will be adopted by the Parliament no later than 15 November. Item 10. The involvement of civil society in the decision-making process The chairman of the Parliament of Georgia will coordinate the effective involvement of civil society representatives in all processes related to the fulfilment of the European Union’s conditions. Additionally, effective mechanisms of involvement will be retained even after the completion of work on the European Union’s conditions. Item 11. Proactive consideration of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg by the Georgian court Taking into account the enforcement procedures of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia will prepare the relevant draft law and submit it to the Parliament as an initiative by 1 September. The Parliament will consider and adopt the draft law no later than 18 October. Item 12. Election of the public defender The parliamentary majority will offer the parliamentary opposition an inclusive procedure for the selection of candidates for the position of public defender until 1 September. This should ensure the nomination of an individual who will be equally acceptable to the majority and the opposition and, accordingly, who will be elected to the position of public defender with a high level of legitimacy. Voting to elect the public defender will take place no later than 1 December. We would like to remind you that the election of the public defender requires the support of at least 90 Parliament deputies. Therefore, ensuring that the public defender is elected in line with the European Union’s conditions is equally the responsibility of both the ruling team and the opposition.

24 Jun, 2022

First of all, I would like to thank the leaders of the European Union for showing a united front during this difficult time for the region, and for the unanimous recognition of a European perspective for Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. I congratulate Ukraine and Moldova on being granted EU candidate status. It is significant that the European Union sent them such a strong sign of solidarity against the backdrop of Russian aggression. I would also like to highlight the formulation of a roadmap for automatic candidacy for Georgia by the European Council. Those who have worked on the issue of Georgia’s EU integration over the years are well aware of what this decision means politically, historically, and practically for Georgia’s future accession to the European Union. “Sometimes, it is difficult to notice history when it is being made” – this is how the European Commission assessed yesterday’s truly historic decision regarding Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. Indeed, the new history of the European Union and our country is being made before our eyes. The only thing we need to do now is to view this history correctly. Yesterday’s decision of the European Council truly was historic: The Council recognized the European perspective of all three countries, that is, the European Union promised all three countries that they will become members of the European Union, though all three countries will have to go through a long process of reforms and institutional approximation with the European Union. With all three countries, the Council used the clause of conditionality, imposing almost identical conditions on all three countries – in the case of Georgia, as a condition for obtaining the status, and in the case of Ukraine and Moldova, as a condition for maintaining the status. Accordingly, it is the goal of all three countries to fulfil these conditions in order for candidate status to be unconditional. It is significant that the unity of the Georgian political spectrum during this historic moment is of paramount importance to the EU decision. Unfortunately, the radicalism that afflicts a part of the Georgian opposition limits their ability to see this history and prevents us from uniting in the interests of the country. How does Georgia react to this historic decision? Today, the country is firmly on the path of peaceful development and democratic reform. The decision of the European Council and the recommendations of the European Commission directly acknowledge the great progress made by Georgia on its path to Europe in recent years. What hinders us most of all from achieving our goal in the next six months and in the coming years is the same disconnectedness, radicalism, unsupportiveness, confrontation, and hopelessness. Instead of all this, accord, mutual support, and faith in the future is the greatest patriotism and the most European course of action today. Today, Europeanness and patriotism are one and the same. As the chairman of Parliament, I would like to emphasize once again that the Parliament is ready to work in response to the priorities set out in the recommendations of the European Commission.

24 Jun, 2022

On behalf of the Georgian Dream party, I would like to comment on yesterday’s decision by the European Council, with which the European Union officially recognized Georgia’s European perspective. Following the signing of the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement, as well as the adoption of visa liberalization, this has been yet another – fourth – major step on the path to European integration. As you know, the country achieved all four results under the Georgian Dream government. The Georgian Dream continues to work with the same degree of consistency to obtain EU membership candidate status in the appropriate timeframe. We would like to thank European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen for this decision and for their words of support to our country, the Georgian people, and the Georgian authorities. As you know, Charles Michel called yesterday a “historic moment in EU-Georgia relations.” Michel noted that Georgia’s future is in the European Union and congratulated the Georgian people on the decision of the Council. Ursula von der Leyen called the decision of the European Council “historic” and personally congratulated Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili. As she noted, the decision of the European Council will make both Georgia and the European Union stronger. We all understand that the European Council made yesterday’s decision entirely in view of the political context. As Emmanuel Macron, the President of France – the chair country of the European Council – noted, it was the war and war-related security, first and foremost, that served as the determining factor in the decision. We would like to reiterate that Georgia is ahead of Ukraine and Moldova in all parameters. However, both Ukraine, which is at war, and Moldova, which borders the military conflict zone, required a special expression of solidarity, and it is important that the European Union acted accordingly. Congratulations once again to Ukraine and Moldova which, in addition to the recognition of their European perspective, were granted candidate country status in advance. Against the backdrop of the EU leaders’ congratulations and festive mood toward Georgia, the opposition’s reaction to yesterday’s decision of the European Council is completely unnatural. The people who celebrated the lost war in 2008 are now mourning the official recognition of Georgia’s European perspective. This is a pattern: the radical opposition is happy with Georgia’s failure and saddened by its success, which is reflected not just in its reactions to events but also in its day-to-day actions. In order to create negative attitudes among the public, the opposition is running a campaign – based on fakes – claiming that Georgia has lost financial and other material privileges because it failed to receive candidate status at this stage. This campaign is based entirely on falsehood. Namely: candidate as well as potential candidate and associated countries receive material and financial assistance from the European Union on an identical basis and in the same amount. For example, in 2014-2020, the annual funding of five candidate countries averaged 34 EUR per capita, while EU funding for Georgia in the same period amounted to 39 EUR per capita. The funding envisaged for Georgia in the coming years is also identical to the funding provided to candidates. We urge everyone not to create false expectations and not to try to artificially create a negative emotional background among the public with a campaign that is based on falsehoods. In conclusion, we would like to thank the European Union once again for formally recognizing Georgia’s European perspective. The Georgian Dream will ensure Georgia’s further success on the path of European integration. We thank the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia, the Government of Georgia, and public servants for the work that has been done in order to gain a European perspective. Most importantly, we thank the people of Georgia – it is due to their progressiveness and pragmatism  that Georgia is maintaining peace and double-digit economic growth on the one hand while taking steps toward building a truly European state – as well as toward EU membership – on the other.

17 Jun, 2022

We would like to comment on today’s decision by the European Commission. As you know, the Commission recommends the European Council to grant Ukraine and Moldova EU membership candidate status with a number of stipulations, and to officially recognize the European perspective for Georgia, which will serve as the basis for granting our country candidate status in the near future. The decision published by the European Commission reads: “Georgia is a European State committed to respecting and promoting the values on which the European Union is founded. The Commission therefore recommends to the Council that Georgia should be given the perspective to become a member of the European Union.” In addition, the document specifically lists the conditions upon the fulfilment of which Georgia will be granted candidate status. Based on the decision of the Commission, the European Council will make a final decision on all three countries in the near future. However, we understand that the decision of the Council is highly like to be in line with the conclusion of the Commission. We reiterate the simple truth that Georgia is ahead of both Ukraine and Moldova by all measurable parameters – be it democracy, the rule of law, the protection of human rights and the fight against corruption, trade and economic cooperation with the European Union, or the overall fulfillment of obligations under the Association Agreement. However, we also understand that the European Commission and the European Council make political, rather than expert decisions. Accordingly, in the current non-standard political situation, the decision of the European Commission has its logical political explanation. Russia’s military aggression and the ongoing war have already caused severe humanitarian and economic damage to Ukraine. The war has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainian military servicemen and civilians, one in three Ukrainians have been displaced or have become refugees, a large part of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed, hundreds of towns and villages have been devastated, and international financial institutions expect the Ukrainian economy to shrink by 45 percent. Against this backdrop, granting Ukraine candidate status is a kind of minor incentive that our friendly country should unquestionably have received from the European Union. Today, we heard the statement of a European leader concerning the fact that under normal circumstances, Ukraine would not have received candidate status, and that it is being granted the status precisely because of the war. Given its geographic proximity to the conflict zone, the ongoing war in Ukraine has caused significant damage to our friend Moldova as well. While Georgia’s economy grew by 14.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the comparable figure in Moldova stood at only 1 percent. At the same time, half a million Ukrainian refugees have sought refuge in Moldova, which, naturally, is a heavy burden for a country with a population of 2.5 million, and the European Union is directly relieving the corresponding burden. Considering the severe economic and humanitarian impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine, Moldova needed to be incentivized as well and this will ease its difficult situation to some extent – at least in political, if not economic terms. It is significant that in light of the current difficulties, the European Union has chosen to overlook Moldova’s military and political neutrality and even its membership in the CIS, granting it candidate status despite everything. We congratulate both Ukraine and Moldova on being granted EU membership candidate status, which will be finally confirmed by the decision of the Council one week from now. As regards the decision on Georgia: Georgia has been waiting for the official recognition of the European perspective by the European Union for many years. We are pleased that today the European Commission officially recognized this perspective and offered us a specific guide to obtaining candidate status. As European leaders directly pointed out in advance, geographic location was also a hindering factor in terms of Georgia being granted candidate status. We would like to remind the public that precisely due to the geographic factor, Georgia received the European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan two years later than Ukraine and Moldova. Also, Georgia started visa liberalization negotiations four years later than Ukraine and two years later than Moldova, it received the Visa Liberalization Action Plan three years later than Ukraine and two years later than Moldova, and it was granted visa-free travel three years later than Moldova but earlier than Ukraine. Similarly, Georgia started negotiations on the Association Agreement three years later than Ukraine, however, it signed the Association Agreement one year earlier than Ukraine. We hope that the geographic factor will no longer serve as the basis for delaying the granting of candidate or member status to Georgia in the future. Although candidate status does not grant the country any financial or other material privileges, not receiving this status at this stage is, of course, disappointing to some extent. However, we understand that in contrast to Ukraine and even Moldova, Georgia today has not made the necessary sacrifices to obtain this status. We understand that the sacrifices made – and the blood spilled  – 14 and 30 years ago and the 300,000 internally displaced persons have unfortunately already lost their relevance to our European partners today. In conclusion, we would like to thank the Government of Georgia, the Prime Minister, the minister of foreign affairs, other members of the government, Parliament deputies, civil servants, all those who contributed to the preparation of the application and advocated it before EU institutions. We would also like to thank every EU representative who carefully studied the issue of Georgia and supported our country’s European perspective. The strength of democratic institutions, peace, and economic development are of paramount importance, and they will preserve Georgia’s real chance of accession to the European union. Therefore, the ruling team will do everything in its power to further strengthen democratic institutions, maintain peace, and ensure economic progress.  

09 Jun, 2022

As you know, today the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Georgia. The campaign that has been underway since 2012 to protect criminals and bring these criminals back to power has reached the European Parliament – one of the European Union’s supreme institutions – which is highly unfortunate and concerning. It is extremely concerning that even such a high-ranking institution of the European Union has fallen victim to so-called fake [news] – one of the chief ailments of the modern world. First of all, we will touch on a number of relatively minor factual inaccuracies and lies that the participants of the campaign have managed to sneak into the European Parliament’s resolution. For example, the resolution states that to this day, the authorities are refusing to transfer Mikheil Saakashvili to a private clinic, while Saakashvili is precisely at a private clinic as we speak. The resolution also states that Lekso Lashkarava succumbed to injuries sustained on 5 July, while the real cause of death is well-known to the public. Since 2012 to date, no comparable lie has ended up in any of the resolutions and official documents adopted by the Parliament of Georgia. It is extremely concerning that specific individuals manage to sneak such gross factual inaccuracies and lies into the resolution of the European Parliament. The resolution of the European Parliament is mainly based on the description of the events that took place on 5 July. As you know, the Georgian authorities have repeatedly condemned the violence against journalists, which was a completely unprecedented event in the 30-year history of independent Georgia. The authorities used this form of violence against journalists in 2004-2012; however, instances of violence perpetrated by ordinary citizens against journalists have not been identified before or after the said events. Unfortunately, the resolution does not explain that an investigation has been launched into 12 criminal cases, resulting in 31 persons being detained or arrested. We do not believe this to be merely a technical shortcoming of the resolution. We encounter yet another false piece of information in the resolution on the topic of 5 July, suggesting that attacks on journalists in Georgia have reached unprecedented levels since 5 July. It is unfortunate that the European Parliament does not verify such facts before adopting a resolution. For example, the Parliament of Georgia and its staff work to a completely different standard. Prior to the approval of any document, the Staff of the Parliament of Georgia verifies all the factual circumstances and presents its report to the Parliament with due professional responsibility. It is impossible for us to respond lightly to the section of the European Parliament’s resolution that calls on the Georgian authorities to transfer Mikheil Saakashvili abroad on “humanitarian grounds” and to release Nika Gvaramia. It is especially concerning that we encounter these calls in a resolution on media freedom and human rights. May God protect Georgia and every EU member state from the standard of media freedom and human rights established by Saakashvili and Gvaramia in 2004-2012. It is astonishing that the European Parliament calls on us to release those who trampled media freedom in Georgia, who seized all national broadcasters in a bandit-like manner and established the full media monopoly of the United National Movement in Georgia, who raided Imedi TV and then looted it from its rightful owner, and who robbed one of the television stations of 7 million just a couple of years ago. I would like to remind you that to this day, these people continue to trample everything valuable that is embodied by the free media – a democratic institution serving the public interest – through the daily circulation of lies and hatred as well as the use of profane language that has become the norm in the media. It is a paradox, yet it is a fact that against the backdrop of the calls to release of Saakashvili and Gvaramia, the resolution of the European Parliament virtually declared Bidzina Ivanishvili – who has left politics – an enemy of Georgian democracy, demanding the imposition of sanctions against him. Several minor comparisons: As we have already noted, during Saakashvili’s and Gvaramia’s time, the media were completely monopolized by the authorities in a bandit-like manner. Founding a new television station was practically impossible. Since 2012, a pluralist media environment has been established in Georgia. There are 14 national television broadcasters, including three television stations owned by the United National Movement, which are financed with money that was looted and stolen from the people by the Saakashvili regime in 2004-2012. Dozens of other television stations – including opposition television stations – and numerous independent media outlets are operating in the country. It practically takes just a few days to set up a new television station. There are no incursions in television stations anymore and journalists have complete freedom in terms of coverage. These are the achievements that Bidzina Ivanishvili has brought to Georgia and Georgian democracy after the defeat of the Saakashvili regime; Until 2012, there were 25,000 prisoners in Georgian prisons and an average of 150 prisoners died per year. Since 2012, the number of prisoners has decreased two and a half times and the death toll has decreased 12 times, which is the result of the crackdown on the systemic practices of torture, rape, and inhuman treatment established by the Saakashvili regime. These are the achievements that Bidzina Ivanishvili has brought to Georgia and Georgian democracy after the defeat of the Saakashvili regime; Until 2012, the court was one of the main repressive tools of Saakashvili’s criminal regime. Since 2012, in the very first years the number of acquittals increased six times, the number of pre-trial and administrative detentions decreased three times, and the number of successful petitions for investigative actions was halved. The total amount of fines levied decreased five times, and the total amount of bails set decreased 18 times. In the very first years, the number of lawsuits sent from Georgia to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg decreased 11 times. These statistics alone are enough to prove not only that the situation in the Georgian judiciary has improved radically since 2012, but that all the systemic problems of Saakashvili’s and Adeishvili’s courts have been eliminated. These are the achievements that Bidzina Ivanishvili has brought to Georgia and Georgian democracy after the defeat of the Saakashvili regime; Saakashvili handed over 20 percent of Georgia’s territory and a large part of its strategic economic facilities to Russia. The process of Russian expansion into Georgia was stopped only in 2012, after Saakashvili’s regime was defeated by Bidzina Ivanishvili. This too is a fundamental achievement brought to Georgia by Bidzina Ivanishvili after the defeat of the Saakashvili regime; The process of Georgia’s integration into Western structures resumed precisely after the defeat of the Saakashvili regime by Bidzina Ivanishvili – the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union were signed, visa-free travel was introduced, the joint NATO training center was established, and numerous reforms were implemented, thanks to which today Georgia is ahead of Ukraine, Moldova, and many EU member or candidate countries in terms of democracy and the rule of law, the fight against corruption, and trade and economic cooperation with the European Union. This is but a small list of the achievements associated with Bidzina Ivanishvili’s name. When a person who has left politics is accused of being involved in politics by a resolution of the European Parliament without any arguments or evidence, this is a separate problem. However, even if we assume, hypothetically, that Bidzina Ivanishvili is involved in politics, it is unclear what the people who call themselves well-wishers of Georgia are accusing him of. It is a fact – and in reality, they themselves are well aware of this – that thanks to Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia has only made progress – and fundamental progress, at that – toward democracy, human rights, and media freedom since 2012. The only thing that Ivanishvili may be accused of by Georgia’s “well-wishers” is the fact that the authorities of Georgia refused to impose sanctions on Russia, thus refusing to punish their own country and its people. Georgia’s “well-wishers” are probably annoyed by the fact that against the backdrop of the grave economic problems around the world, economic growth exceeding 10 percent was reported in Georgia last year as well as in January-April of this year. Georgia’s “well-wishers” may not like that the law is the law in Georgia, and that both Saakashvili – who sneaked into the country in a sour cream shipping container – and Gvaramia – who robbed a television station of 7 million – are in their rightful place today. Georgia’s “well-wishers” may not like that Georgia did not become involved in a completely disastrous and fatal war, and that it did not allow anyone to destroy the country. However, what is disliked by the patrons of criminals is liked by the people of Georgia – this is peace, the rule of law, and economic development. Those who do not like this cannot be called friends and well-wishers of Georgia. The resolution that calls for the release of Saakashvili and Gvaramia – the enemies of Georgian democracy and media freedom – and declares Bidzina Ivanishvili (who is fully distanced from politics today and who returned democracy, freedom of the media, and media pluralism to the Georgian people in 2012) as virtually the main problem facing Georgian democracy, calling for sanctions to be imposed on him, has nothing in common with European values. Such a resolution, to put it bluntly, is not worth a dime. We hope that when Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova become members of the European Union, we will have a different European Parliament by then – one that is immune to the influence of fake [news] and a defender of true European values; one that will be able to act sovereignly, in line with its own objective interests. We are not trying to prove anything, but today’s resolution bolsters the opinion expressed by individual experts who suggested that the issue of applying for EU candidate status ahead of the declared timeframe was invented by Georgia’s ill-wishers in order to create artificial difficulties for our country and its authorities. You all remember the artificial commotion created by the opposition regarding this topic, even though they are well aware that granting candidate status will have no practical consequences for either Georgia, Ukraine, or Moldova. Furthermore, this commotion suspiciously coincided with the Bakuriani meeting, where Peter Ackerman – the well-known expert on revolutions – trained the United National Movement and the parties, television stations, and NGOs owned by it in overthrowing the authorities. We cannot rule out that the commotion surrounding the candidate status may have been decided at the Bakuriani meeting. What the opposition is counting on is simple, and we have repeatedly informed the public about this in the past. They are counting on Georgia not receiving the candidate status, unlike Ukraine and Moldova, which will lead to a commotion among a part of the public, especially young people, and a coup by the United National Movement. And all this will end in Georgia becoming involved in the war – a goal so diligently pursued by the United National Movement and its patrons all these months. The resolution of the European Parliament can be seen as hinting that Georgia – unlike Ukraine and Moldova – may not be granted EU candidate status. If this happens, naturally, it will be a completely illogical and unjust decision and everyone in Georgia who is interested in peace, the rule of law, and economic progress will react accordingly. We will not act prematurely, and we will wait until 23-24 June, when the final decision regarding the candidate status will be made. We will provide the public with more information about the behind-the-scenes developments pertaining to the candidate status and the relevant private conversations in accordance with the decision.

17 May, 2022

First of all, we would like to note that we had no plans whatsoever to make any special statements about the case of financial damage to Rustavi 2. Specific individuals committed a specific crime, and they were sentenced by the court in accordance with the law. We believe that the mere fact that both Gvaramia and Damenia are high-ranking officials of the previous authorities and are currently engaged in opposition political activities does not constitute grounds for us to issue a political statement in response to the revelation of the crime that they committed against the media. We note from the outset that we are not planning to talk about the verdict against Gvaramia and Damenia at this time. We would like to focus only on the hysterical campaign, which should be unequivocally assessed as an attempt to politicize justice. Before assessing this attempt, I would like to remind you of the quote from a statement by more than 20 so-called nongovernmental organizations regarding the court’s decision: “Both the course of the trial and its ultimate outcome do not correspond to the requirements of a fair trial and further reinforce our suspicions of gross interference by the authorities in the decision-making process. We stress that the decision undermines Georgia’s future development prospects, restricts media freedom and a pluralistic media environment, and poses a threat to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration process.” This quote pertains not to the verdict of yesterday but the decision of 2017. Even then, five years ago, the National Movement, the NGOs affiliated with it, the then President, the then Public Defender, and their foreign lobbyists were waging a hysterical campaign, based on lies and fakes, in connection with the Rustavi 2 case. This lie and fake was exposed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg within two years. Although during its rule the United National Movement seized Rustavi 2 in a completely bandit-like manner and in broad daylight, this party as well as its partners and lobbyists brazenly and shamelessly asserted that the court had unjustly returned the television station to its rightful owner. Unfortunately, a similar brazen and shameless campaign is witnessed by the public today as well. Let us remind you that the initiation of the campaign against the Georgian judiciary is chronologically connected with the case of Rustavi 2, and to this day, this campaign is underway with the use of Soviet propaganda methods and the attachment of labels. We do not want to talk about the details of yesterday’s verdict at all. We will focus on a single circumstance pertaining to the case. Pseudo-lawyers of the National Movement assert the “absurdity” of the verdict by referring to the fact that Gvaramia was robbing the television station in agreement with its then owners. This is a completely feeble argument – when the illegal owners of a television station and its general director agree to rob the television station, which was to be returned to its rightful owner, naturally, this cannot absolve the general director of responsibility. Here is another quote, this time from the Strasbourg court’s decision on the case of Sandro Girgvliani: “The Court is struck by how the different branches of State power ... all acted in concert in preventing justice from being done in this gruesome homicide case.” While these people used to surprise us during their time in power by coordinating around injustice, now they are surprising us from the ranks of the opposition. The concerted actions, both past and present, of the United National Movement and its satellite parties, its own media outlets, NGOs, public defenders, and foreign lobbyists, aimed at preventing justice from being served in the case of the National Movement’s seizure of Rustavi 2, the cases against Mikheil Saakashvili regarding Sandro Girgvliani, Valeri Gelashvili, 7 November, Imedi TV, and corruption, and the case against Nika Gvaramia regarding the robbery of Rustavi 2, are truly astonishing. We would like to remind you that against the backdrop of the hysterical campaign of 2017, the Strasbourg court applied a temporary measure, suspending the return of the ownership of Rustavi 2 TV to its rightful owner for two years. This decision allowed Gvaramia the opportunity to rob the television station of several additional millions. With this, the radical opposition, the then Public Defender, NGOs, and foreign lobbyists put the Strasbourg court in an awkward position. However, no one has apologized to the court to this day. As we have already noted, in 2019, the Strasbourg court fully confirmed the legitimacy of the Georgian court’s decision, thus revealing the campaign waged by the National Movement and its partners and lobbyists and exposing their lies. After that, however, they did not apologize to the nine judges of the Supreme Court, as well as the four judges of the courts of first and second instance, who endured grave insults over a period of two years. We would like to remind you that the shameful bullying of Judge Tamaz Utmelidze by Gvaramia was expressly condemned by the Strasbourg court. Unfortunately, the National Movement, its satellites, NGOs, Margvelashvili, and foreign lobbyists did not apologize to the Georgian public in 2019 for insulting them with a completely shameless campaign based on brazen lies. And now, the exact same people are waging a new hysterical campaign aimed at preventing the rightful owner of Rustavi 2 from getting back the 7 million that he is due. This campaign should be unequivocally assessed as an attempt to exert pressure on the court, which is dictated by political motives. We would like to remind you that the court hearing on the criminal case through the procedure of appeal and cassation is yet to come, as is the civil dispute on the basis of which the 7 million that was illegally seized must be returned to Rustavi 2 TV. Naturally, any politically motivated hysteria and the bullying of judges can have an impact on their future decisions. Accordingly, this bullying must receive the appropriate response. Everyone is well aware of the events surrounding Rustavi 2 TV over the past years. The television station was first forcibly taken away from its rightful owner and then, when they realized that the court would inevitably return it to its rightful owner, they “tossed it back” to the rightful owner, having robbed it first. Only the people who have a malicious, subjective political interest in the case can deem the legal confirmation of this fact unacceptable. These people are the participants of the famous meeting in Bakuriani, the new Shulaveri Committee, the “party of war and betrayal,” for which injustice, the seizure of television stations, and the exertion of pressure on the court are acceptable practices. The National Movement, its satellite parties, its media outlets, NGOs, and foreign lobbyists are acting in concert against the rule of law, the judiciary, state institutions, and media outlets in order to retain at least a theoretical chance of political success in the future. We cannot give these people the right to suspend the enforcement of the law, rob television stations, or exert pressure on the courts. Finally, we must respond to the people who are trying to equate the non-punishment of Gvaramia with Georgia’s European prospects. It must be clearly stated in response that the European Union is not about corruption, robbery, and injustice – the European Union is precisely about the rule of law and a society free of corruption. Accordingly, it is precisely the National Movement, the NGOs, Gvaramia, and their foreign lobbyists who are, in their essence, anti-EU. And, in any case, we will never be able to become members of the European family without the rule of law. Accordingly, our government will do everything in its power to protect the principle of the legal state, which is one of the most important European values.

14 May, 2022

Today is Tamaroba, the Day of Remembrance of Queen Tamar – the queen whose name is associated with the Golden Age of the Georgian state and Georgian culture, and who was canonized by the Georgian Church due to her special contribution to her homeland and her faith. Congratulations to everyone on this notable occasion! It is symbolic that the Women’s Organization of our party, Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia, is founded precisely on this day, the Day of Remembrance of Queen Tamar. Women have always played a special role in the centuries-old history of Georgia. The fact alone that Christianity was introduced to Georgia by Saint Nino, a woman, is enough to demonstrate this. The most selfless example of devotion to one’s homeland and one’s faith is also associated with the name of a woman – Saint Ketevan, the martyr queen. For centuries, women in Georgia have made a great contribution to the protection of our statehood and our faith, as well as to the development of our country and its culture. Our recent history is also very rich with examples of the above. Even today, the women of Georgia, regardless of their nationality, play a special role in the public life of our country. They have a distinguished role in the fields of education and science. Women make a great contribution to the development of Georgian culture. They are making a name for our county in the arena of sports. Women are making a significant contribution to the management of various spheres of public life, public service, and the development of the Georgian economy. You will agree that the active participation of women in politics is of particular importance. To this end, our party has taken a number of important steps over the past years. Especially noteworthy is the introduction of gender quotas, on the basis of which the representation of women has increased significantly both in the Parliament of Georgia and municipal councils. However, we understand that more needs to be done to ensure an even more active role for women in political life. The establishment of our party’s Women’s Organization serves this purpose precisely. Promoting the professional development and career growth of women party members, creating new tools for communication, cooperation, and sharing of experience between women party members, and stimulating the role of women party members in the party’s international relations will be the main goals of this organization. At the same time, naturally, the successful operation of the ruling party’s Women’s Organization can make a significant contribution to empowering women in the country in general as well as stimulating their role in various spheres of public life. We have ambitious plans, and I wish our Women’s Organization success in implementing these plans. – Irakli Kobakhidze   It is a great honor for me to speak before you on this very important occasion. We Georgians are justifiably proud of the unique, entirely special role of women in our history and our present – of their contribution to the development of culture, science, education, sports, political life, and statehood in general. Saint Nino, our enlightener, and Queen Nana, Queen Tamar and Ketevan the Martyr, Barbare Jorjadze and Maro Makashvili, Nona Gaprindashvili and Eliso Virsaladze and other strong, independent, educated, creative, and courageous women – their names would decorate the history of any country. Therefore, we are justifiably proud of the fact that Tamar’s era, and then the First Republic of Georgia, were among the first in the world – preceding many modern Western states – to establish gender equality in terms of political, civil, economic, and familial rights and to grant women the right to vote. Of course, these names and facts, as well as our traditional attitudes toward the role of women, do not mean that we may forget that a great deal of hard work is still required to achieve the desired situation. The issues of women’s rights, their participation in political and public life have not yet been finally resolved and regulated in our country or in the whole world, including the most developed democracies. It remains our job to ensure equality, and this must be done by all of us, every single woman and man. Our party, the Georgian Dream – whose creation and victory, I should note, involved the active participation of women – began implementing legal and institutional reforms upon coming to power with the aim of strengthening the role of women. The development and refining of legislation eliminating discrimination against women, the promotion of quality healthcare and decent employment, and the introduction of the quota mechanism – this is but a small list of these measures. Today, with the establishment of the Georgian Dream’s Women’s Organization, we are taking another important step in this direction. Strengthening the voices of our mothers and sisters, our daughters and spouses is, of course, a very joyful and welcome event for our party and for the strengthening of intra-party democracy and equality in general. And I believe that the goals that this organization aspires to achieve – highlighting and addressing the challenges faced by women, strengthening women’s participation, and ensuring gender equality – are also beneficial for the advancement and development of our society and our country as a whole. So, once again, congratulations on this remarkable event. On behalf of myself and the Government of Georgia, I promise you full support and wish you success and the achievement of your – our common – goal! – Irakli Gharibashvili   I extend special greetings to the strong women gathered here who strengthen our team and our country with their daily activities. They are actively involved in the political life of the country and are contributing to the processes of Georgia’s irreversible democratic development. This event is a special occasion in the history of modern Georgian politics, our party, and the involvement of women in Georgian politics. Today, the Georgian Dream’s Women’s Organization is founded. This was preceded by a great deal of work and fruitful meetings in the regions and in Tbilisi, together with the women members of our team. The involvement of women in Georgian politics has a long history. In the distant past – not to bring up Queen Tamar and Rusudan – Georgia was among the first countries in the world and in Europe whose 1921 Constitution ensured electoral, and not just electoral but all forms of equality between women and men. Unfortunately, no effective steps have been taken in this direction since the loss of independence. However, the Georgian Dream is the political team that implemented a whole series of changes to strengthen women’s rights and made it possible for more women to be included in the country’s legislative life. EU membership means not only economic or legislative compatibility – it means a political culture based on progressive values and the proper involvement of women in politics. In a patriarchal society, women have to redouble their efforts. To date, even in the most developed democracies, increasing the visibility of unpaid, invisible domestic labor is a rarity. Unfortunately, an imbalance of pay between women and men, along with a number of other inequalities, still exists in many places. These issues are impossible to resolve unless women themselves are in decision-making positions. I am confident that the Georgian Dream’s Women’s Organization will work in a dignified and successful manner to overcome all the challenges faced by women in our country. You will set a new standard in the political culture of our country, and you will definitely achieve great success. This success belongs to each and every of you, and I personally will always stand by you in this process! Victory to our strong women, victory to our team! – Kakha Kaladze   I greet you, the members of our party, and the women whose contribution to our various victories has been of paramount importance. The victories that we – this party – have achieved over many years are the result of your selfless hard work, and I would like to begin with a big thank you. You are the people who are numerous in this hall. At the same time, we know – and the people listening to us today need to know as well – that you are few in number because you are delegates, and you represent the countless women who have stayed in the regions and who have sent you to attend the founding congress. Naturally, I greet them as well on behalf of the government and the party. When we came to the helm of the country, it was a time when the dignity of a female politician – and the female politician as such – was trampled underfoot as a result of Saakashvili’s dirty policies, and in reality, no one took female politicians seriously. This issue was merely a subject of ridicule and mockery. Also, when we came to power there were no legal norms, with the exception of two modest laws, which were passed by the previous authorities as a result of foreign pressure and which guaranteed our rights in the household, our rights at our place of employment, and our rights in politics. When the National Movement revoked Bidzina Ivanishvili’s citizenship, he was unable to become the first chairman of our party for that reason alone; and it was precisely he, a male politician, who placed an emphasis on women politicians. Consequently, a woman, Ms. Manana Kobakhidze, became this chairperson. I will say that just like that, this party was auspiciously born on the basis of trust toward a woman chairperson. I know that no one will be offended but I have to say this: As a witness that was present during the first year of our rule, I know better than anyone that the only man who believed that a quota was necessary (who supported women candidates and a balanced party list) was precisely Bidzina Ivanishvili. I am not saying this because it has to be said – it truly was so. Then, the party continued in this spirit and under Irakli Gharibashvili as Prime Minister, on 19 June 2014, I – a woman minister of justice – was delegated the honor to sign – on behalf of all of you, on behalf of your daughters – the Convention in Strasbourg, which even some European countries have not yet signed. I’m referring to the Istanbul Convention. Following the signing of the Istanbul Convention, a very difficult, three-year period began in order for the Parliament of that convocation to ratify it in 2017. We, the Government of Georgia, have introduced 24 major legislative packages in Parliament and amended a number of legislative acts. This is precisely how we defeated silence. When we are oppressed, when we are beaten, when there is violence within or outside the family, silence is no longer the rule. This is exactly what the Istanbul Convention and the reforms carried out by the Georgian Dream have brought. Of course, this is not enough, which is why recently, under Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze’s leadership, the Parliament passed the law on quotas. Creative women often ask me, a lawyer and the current head of their ministry: Yes, but why are these quotas necessary?! Of course, under normal conditions these quotas are not necessary. However, we need these quotas and I, a female member of this party, thank all the members of Parliament who voted for this law. Someone might say: What do you need these quotas for? After all, you already are the deputy prime minister, you already are in the Parliament, you already are in the city council, you already are the mayor. We need these quotas, nonetheless. We need these quotas for young women because politics still remains closed to women. Regardless of the spirit within the party, the law is the greatest guarantee. That is why we, our party, have opened wide the doors of politics to women, and I will really not tire of saying thank you. We need these quotas, and these quotas will be used by all the young women who will join this organization. And finally, once again, I thank you – the women of our party who are present here, who are watching us and listening to us on television – for your selfless hard work. This hard work is not just hard work – it is hard work against evil, it is the struggle for peace, the struggle for the children who must one day take our place. But still, of the greatest importance are those who do not appear in the frame – those who are not visible in the party. I would like to single out two categories – I would not want to leave this rostrum today without doing so. The first are the spouses of our male companions-in-arms. I would like to thank them for their resilience, to thank them for their patience because there are no successful men in politics without decent, patient women standing behind them, toiling to care for the family and having a career of their own, or raising children. For this I thank them, and we apologize to them for all the insults that they endure on our behalf. And I would also like to thank the ladies, members of your families, your spouses – I would like to thank my spouse as well because they are the men who have to endure and support us when we are being insulted, and if we are even the least bit successful today, it is primarily thanks to these men. Many thanks to everyone. – Tea Tsulukiani   Today, we unite women, and a new political reality is being created where we will surely share each other’s successes and overcome the challenges that still affect us together. I see so many strong women and I want even more women to occupy representative and executive positions in cities and villages. With today’s union, we provide a new opportunity for women, especially girls, to get involved in the social and political processes. Years ago, this team gave me the opportunity to be active in the political arena and at the same time, I did not give up what was most important to me – my family. I was able to balance the job that I love and what is most precious to me – caring for my large family. Our team, together with you, will share and support the success of many more women. So, today, we unite for the greater success our country and new opportunities for women in politics. – Nino Latsabidze   Strong women are the history of Georgia, and Georgia is the country of equality. Given that a woman king, the first women members of Parliament in the early 20th century, heroes in the struggle against the enemy, and innumerable successful women are a part of our history, ensuring the empowerment of women is certainly an even more legitimate goal. The most important value for every state is the people, and since more than 50 percent of our population are women and they possess special skills, abilities, and innate qualities, they should be involved in the processes. You, the women present here, and hundreds of thousands of other women are an example of success in your field – you are a source of motivation for others and a real opportunity for the state to utilize your strength and energy. And when the development of opportunities needs a special basis and when equal opportunities for women and men are guaranteed by the Constitution, why shouldn’t we make use of additional opportunities to develop these skills of ours? The founding of the Women’s Organization today is another declaration on our part – that the stated goal of the empowerment of women is our intra-party strategy and our priority. We open the doors of this organization to all of our loyal, hardworking, and awesome women and also to all of our women supporters who share the ideology that our political team espouses. By founding this organization, we are telling everyone that we will empower the women in our ranks, that we will promote their success, and that gender equality will be part of our political agenda. The participation of women in politics is not just about numbers. This must be the involvement of women and their essential participation, and the numbers should reflect precisely this. I wish us success, and through our empowerment, I wish our country success. – Nino Tsilosani

21 Apr, 2022

Today marks exactly 10 years since the official establishment of our party – The Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia. Exactly 10 years ago, on 21st April 2012, the founding congress of the party was held. During its 10 years of existence, The Georgian Dream has played a crucial role in the recent history of our country. Since 2012, The Georgian Dream has deservedly won the mandate of public trust nine times in a row, for which we once again express our gratitude to the Georgian people. It is our greatest responsibility and daily job to justify and honor this trust. We are especially grateful to the founders of our party, more than 40 thousand members, thousands of youth organization members and 100 thousand supporters, who are loyal and committed to the interests of the Georgian state, and congratulate them on the party anniversary. Back in 2012, when our party was founded with the leadership and guidance of Bidzina Ivanishvili, country was in the most devastating condition – democracy and human rights were infringed by the authoritarian regime, human dignity and life were at stake, torture and inhuman treatment were a routine malpractice, inhuman policy of criminal justice was institutionalized, freedom of public gathering was suppressed with violence from the authorities, so-called elite corruption and business racketeering was overarching malpractice; judiciary, prosecution, Ministry of Interior and other law-enforcement bodies served autocracy rather than justice and acted as a main tool of repression; media freedom was non-existent and every leading media outlet was flattering dictatorship rather than enjoying the freedom of speech; people were deprived of the right of choice; country had a fragile economy and 30 percent of the population lived below the poverty threshold; no effective mechanism existed for the social security of the population; no healthcare services were effective either; from 2003 to 2012 population of Georgia shrunk by 225,000 people; authorities of the country led to the loss of 20 percent of the sovereign territories in favor of Russia, 30 000 individuals turned into internally displaced persons; progress of Georgia in terms of integration with western structures was halted. It was in this difficult and challenging situation that The Georgian Dream under the leadership of Bidzina Ivanishvili made the democratic transformation happen towards the development of the country. Bidzina Ivanishvili and The Georgian Dream have restored freedom and democracy to the people, which is an essential condition for the progress and development of a country. The systematic malpractice manifesting in the abuse of human rights and dignity, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of people has been suppressed. The number of prisoners was reduced by 2.5 times and their mortality rate by 12 times. Number of applications to the European Court of Human Rights declined 11 times from the very first years. Media freedom and pluralism is ensured at a high degree. Systemic malpractice of election rigging has been eradicated and elected governance is formed in accordance with the public will. Economic freedom and property rights are protected with a high standard. Country has a new Constitution, which fully corresponds to the best European practice and standard of parliamentary democracies. Judiciary, prosecution and the Ministry of Interior are no longer used as a repression tool, which is evidenced by a great number of studies carried out by reputable international organizations and vividly demonstrated by statistical data. From the very first years, the number of acquittals increased 6 times in the national judicial system, while the ratio of pre-trial and administrative detention decreased 3 times and the rate of satisfaction of motions for investigative actions decreased 2 times. The total amount of the imposed fines was reduced 5 times, while the total amount of bail outs was reduced 18 times. Irrespective of the global economic crisis in 2014 and 2020, the national economy of Georgia grew from 27 to 60 billion in 2012-2021. While the revenues to the State Budget increased from 8 to 19.5 billion. So-called elite corruption has been eradicated and studies commissioned by all the highly qualified international organizations evidence that Georgia is a leading country in the region in terms of fighting corruption. Speed of road infrastructure works increased 3 times. Volume of water supply efforts increased 10 times. Over 300 000 subscribers have been added to the natural gas supply system. Unprecedented programs have been launched in support of entrepreneurship and agriculture. In line with the data released by the World Bank, 350 000 citizens overcame poverty and the decline in the size of population has stopped. The universal health care system and other effective mechanisms of social protection of the population have been launched. The budget of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Georgia has been increased 3 times. Funding for education, culture and sports has been tripled as well. Authorities driven by The Georgian Dream are the first in the country to have no war during its governance. With its pragmatic foreign policy, despite serious security challenges, The Georgian Dream solidified peace and substantially boosted the degree of stability and security in the country. Georgia achieved unprecedented progress in terms of its integration with western structures. Degree of compatibility with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) increased substantially; we signed the Association Agreement (AA) and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU); we received a visa-free travel arrangement for the citizens of Georgia. Official EU Membership Application is a logical continuation of our consistent effort towards the EU accession shortly leading to a status of an EU Candidate Country.   It is not an exhaustive list of results brought by our party – The Georgian Dream – to our country since 2012. Naturally, a number of faults and errors were witnessed along with the milestone achievements. Nevertheless, what is most important, The Georgian Dream never diverted from its core principles that serve as overarching values of our political endeavors: dignity, freedom and solidarity, patriotism and respect towards the church, protection of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. We express our sheer gratitude to the founder of the party – Bidzina Ivanishvili – who created our political movement on these very principles and thus formed a solid basis for the democratic breakthrough of the country and dignified development of Georgia. The Georgian Dream is manifested in two overwhelming goals in our conscience:  First one is the united Georgia, which is regaining not only Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions in a peaceful manner, but our Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers and sisters as well. We perceive Georgia to be a country uniting people through love towards each other. We strongly believe that our dream about united Georgia will most certainly come true.  Second one is Georgia with a European measure of prosperity, whereby no person lives in poverty and every household enjoys a dignified quality of life. Currently, the degree of democratic development in Georgia significantly exceeds that of economic advancement. In such conditions the value of democracy is minor in the perception of the general public. In line with a study carried out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Georgia will be the third in the world and first in continental Europe and Asia with its economic growth rate in 2021-2027, thereby claiming that GDP per capita will increase to 9,200 USD by 2027 and exceed 12,500 USD by 2030 with the same trend. Thus, Georgia will move to the category of high-income countries. It clearly demonstrates that the reference made by the founder of our party – Bidzina Ivanishvili – to 2030 was based on concrete assumptions and that they truly had a solidly rational basis. Georgia will most certainly become a unified, strongly-performing European economy with national traditions and Christian values. It is what Ilia Chavchavadze, Dimitri Kipiani, Vazha Pshavela, Niko Nikoladze and other great thinkers and statesmen of Georgia were dreaming about. This is what our heroes have been dreaming of when sacrificing the most valuable virtue of all – their life - to Georgia. This is what every single Georgian is dreaming of, to whom the word homeland is most precious and dear. We are confident that Georgian dream about unified and strong Georgia will most certainly come true! Together with our society, the solid team of our party will spare no effort to make this dream come true and will continue to fight and work for the benefit and welfare of our country and people!

06 Apr, 2022

Unfortunately, in parallel with Russia’s war in Ukraine, an unprecedented and inconceivable hybrid warfare is being conducted against our country, Georgia! It is already clear to everyone that today, the representatives of the radical Georgian opposition, the representatives of the war party, who hold various positions in the Ukrainian government, are conducting an open hybrid warfare against Georgia together with their colleagues. All their resources are directed toward this warfare and the degree of disinformation, fake news, and provocations has already crossed all red lines! Within the framework of the hybrid warfare against Georgia, the representatives of both the war party and the Ukrainian authorities repeat the phrase "Georgia is doing nothing to support Ukraine" very often, while Georgia demonstrated a very clear, firm position on all international platforms regarding all principal issues. This was the case in the Council of Europe, where Georgia supported the suspension of Russia's membership; At the UN - where Georgia was a co-sponsor of the relevant resolution; We had a firm position in the OSCE, regarding the Hague Tribunal, and everywhere where Ukraine needed and needs our political support. Not to mention the hundreds of tons of humanitarian cargo. We stand with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people everywhere! Against this background, as a part of the hybrid warfare against Georgia, we have heard another, this time completely inconceivable statement, which is offensive to both our country and each citizen of Georgia. On top of that, today the Ukrainian government demanded evidence for something that is not only non-existent and absurd, but none of us even thought of such filth! Demanding evidence from someone who you accused of unthinkable intentions and crimes is a know-how in this area invented specifically against Georgia. We understand that such statements are most likely backed by individuals from the war party, the opposition, and certain individuals in the Ukrainian government, including a recent appointee to Ukraine's security service, but this is a case when we categorically demand that the relevant Ukrainian services provide any evidence to prove their disgusting accusations against Georgia or deny these absurd allegations against a friend and partner country – Georgia publicly, through the same sources and in the same form. It is unbelievable that we are forced to discuss this against the backdrop of Russia's open aggression in Ukraine, the war, and the extremely disturbing footages we have seen in recent days and, in general, since the beginning of the war. It is also unbelievable that they are openly confronting a country, 20% of which is occupied by the same state, Russia, which is currently conducting a war on Ukrainian territory against Ukraine. At the same time, there are many countries that have not received a single reprimand, even though these countries not only refuse to join the sanctions but, unlike Georgia, do not express their support for Ukraine on international platforms. As it is known to us, we will see a disinformation campaign against Georgia in the coming days, a new wave of provocations and fake content, which will be aimed at inciting unrest in Georgia and also opening of a second front. The ground is already being prepared for this, and the unbelievable statements made by the Ukrainian authorities against our friendly country also seem to be part of this campaign. Therefore, I call on everyone, especially the citizens of Georgia, both inside and outside the country, to whom it most concerns - this is a historic moment when it is of utmost importance which side of history you are on! Keep in mind that you cannot become patriots of Ukraine through the enmity of Georgia! These two are incompatible things. We categorically warn you to stop the hybrid warfare against your own country and stop trying to drag Georgia into the war. The Georgian government acts according to the national interests of Georgia and the Georgian people. The soldiers of the hybrid warfare against Georgia will not be able to achieve their goal. Our consistent steps guarantee that the country will continue peaceful and stable development. It should also be noted that despite everything, Georgia will never stop supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people on all international political platforms.

28 Mar, 2022

As you know, several days ago, yet another visit of the War Party – the National Movement – took place in Ukraine. As it emerged, the visit was “successful” because upon its completion, senior Ukrainian officials began to speak openly about the prudence of opening a second front in Georgia and bringing the war taking place in Ukraine to Georgia. The statement by Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov was the clearest example of this. We have repeatedly provided the public with information concerning the fact that the main goal of all provocations staged by the National Movement was to involve Georgia in the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine and to open a second front in Georgia. The constant calls for economic sanctions against Russia have served and continue to serve precisely this purpose; the grave provocation in the form of the attempt to send a plane full of volunteer fighters to Ukraine with the permission of the Government of Georgia served the same purpose, as did the discriminatory propaganda against ethnic Russian citizens, calls for the government to purchase weapons (you all remember, for example, Giorgi Margvelashvili’s statements in this regard), the speculative raising of the topic of military status, calls for the use of harsh rhetoric by the authorities, and so on. The recall of the Ukrainian ambassador from Georgia was also an act of political pressure organized by the War Party that aimed to incite public unrest and change the policy of the authorities of Georgia. The public is aware that the authorities of Georgia gave an appropriate response to all these provocations by the War Party and did not allow the situation in the country to escalate. Direct or indirect talks by the War Party about the so-called window of opportunity and calls for the restoration of territorial integrity through war also serve the purpose of moving the military conflict to Georgia. We would like to emphasize with regard to the aforementioned that the authorities of Georgia remain committed to the policy of peaceful de-occupation and will resist all provocations aimed at escalating a new military confrontation with our Abkhazian and Ossetian brothers and sisters. We all understand that any war in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali will be a war not only between Georgians and the Russian occupation forces – it will also be a war between Georgians and Abkhazians, Georgians and Ossetians. A new fratricidal war will be the greatest, unforgivable crime in the history of our country, and we will not permit this to happen. If the current grave situation creates any window of opportunity in this regard, it will be an opportunity to extend a helping hand to the people living in the occupied territories to deal with the aggravated social problems. We reiterate that the authorities of Georgia will act in accordance with the state interests of Georgia, will respond appropriately to all provocations by the War Party, and will not allow Georgia to be dragged into a military conflict. This is our responsibility before our country and our people.

16 Mar, 2022

First of all, we once again express our solidarity with the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people fighting against Russian military aggression. We would like to reaffirm our position regarding the sanctions. As it is known, the “Party of War” in the form of the National Movement does not dare to speak openly about the imposition of sanctions and the desire to involve Georgia in the military conflict. However, all of their provocations are aimed precisely at this. It is their obvious goal for the authorities to make extremely harmful decisions for the Georgian state and its people, impose economic sanctions, and involve the country in war, which will have dire consequences for Georgia and its people. It should be noted that in the past few days, their foreign lobbyists have also become actively involved in the National Movement’s provocative campaign in terms of sanctions. Over these days, television stations belonging to the National Movement covered several statements by such lobbyists, calling on the Georgian authorities to join the sanctions. In this regard, we would like to remind you that after the Russia-Georgia war of 2008, not a single state in the world imposed sanctions on Russia despite the fact that as a result of this war, Russia occupied 20 percent of Georgia’s territories, hundreds of military servicemen and civilians were killed, 30,000 citizens became IDPs, Russia bombed Georgian cities, completely destroyed hundreds of Georgian villages, Georgian churches, and other cultural heritage monuments. Despite all this, after the 2008 war, the Georgian authorities at the time did not impose sanctions on Russia either. Moreover, the authorities of Georgia under the National Movement introduced a visa-free regime for Russian citizens, partially in 2010 and fully in February 2012. Since 2012, under our government, trade and economic relations with Russia have been expanded.  No one – we repeat, no one – has made any critical remarks about any of these decisions by the previous or current authorities. It was clear to everyone that the steps taken by the authorities only served the interests of our own country and population, including the hundreds of thousands of our citizens living in Russia and the occupied territories. Given our special attitude toward the Ukrainian people, naturally, our solidarity with Ukraine is of a special nature. However, it is unclear how they can demand the imposition of sanctions in response to the ongoing Russian military aggression in Ukraine, when the Georgian authorities have not done so even after the occupation of their own country. We once again call on the “Party of War” in the form of the National Movement to kindly speak openly if they support the imposition of sanctions, instead of resorting to covert agitation, staging provocations, and hiring foreign lobbyists. We reiterate that by imposing economic sanctions, the authorities of Georgia will not be able to harm Russia in any way, while this would be a major blow for Georgia and its population. Therefore, we would like to emphasize once again that our position concerning the imposition of sanctions remains unchanged, and no one will be able to change our position on this issue through provocations, covert campaigns, or foreign lobbyists. We reiterate that Georgia will not join the sanctions imposed on Russia. In parallel with the political and humanitarian support of Ukraine, the authorities of Georgia stand guard, in a principled and uncompromising manner, over the interests of the Georgian state and the Georgian people.

15 Mar, 2022

Respecting the Constitution and acting in accordance with it is the primary duty of all constitutional bodies. This is especially true of the President of Georgia, who is directly obligated to protect the Constitution by the text of Constitution itself. Unfortunately, a clear negative trend is evident in this regard, and it is our duty to issue a political response to this trend from the outset, so that it does not create any excessive difficulties for the operation of the constitutional system. Before we begin discussing the details, first of all, we would like to call on the President of Georgia to familiarize herself with the Constitution of Georgia, in particular, with the constitutional powers of the three main constitutional bodies – the Parliament, the Government, and the President. In her address yesterday, the President of Georgia proposed a number of new rules of the game related to the operation of the state system. It is obvious that she wishes to act beyond the Constitution. However, we would like to remind the President that the rules of the game of the state system are determined not by the President but by the Constitution, and no one can allow the President to rewrite the Constitution. As it is known, the current version of the Constitution of Georgia grants the Government of Georgia the exclusive authority to conduct foreign policy. In accordance with the principles of the parliamentary republic, the President of Georgia may engage in the implementation of foreign policy only in exceptional cases, with the extraordinary consent of the Government of Georgia. It should be additionally noted that no state agency connected to the implementation of foreign policy is subordinate to the President of Georgia, which makes it impossible for her to be effectively involved in the exercise of these powers. As mentioned, these peculiarities are derived from the principles of a parliamentary republic. The appointment of ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives is one of the most important tools precisely for the implementation of foreign policy. The relevant act is co-signed by the President and the Prime Minister, and according to the Constitution, political responsibility for the said act rests solely with the government. This means that the material authority to appoint an ambassador is vested in the government by the Constitution, while the President is endowed solely with legal and ceremonial powers in this area. At the same time, even if the clause on co-signing were not established, the power to appoint an ambassador is defined in the following way in all parliamentary republics: The President formally appoints ambassadors, while the government is responsible for their selection in political and practical terms. Over the past year, there have been a number of cases in which the President refused to appoint an ambassador or diplomatic representative nominated by the government, which flagrantly contradicts the Constitution of Georgia. During the past months, a number of meetings were held between representatives of the government and the President, during which the content of the Constitution of Georgia was clearly and repeatedly explained to the President, unfortunately – to no avail. In these circumstances, the Government of Georgia is forced to apply in the near future to the Constitutional Court within the framework of the procedure for the dispute of competencies, and to request the confirmation of the violation of the Constitution by the President of Georgia. In accordance with the exclusive power of the Government of Georgia in the field of foreign policy implementation, the Constitution of Georgia gives priority to the government in terms of conducting international negotiations and exercising representative powers as well. According to the Constitution, the President of Georgia can conduct international negotiations and exercise representative powers only with the consent of the government. The President of Georgia, as she herself admitted during yesterday’s session, made several visits to various countries without the consent of the Government of Georgia, in violation of this constitutional clause. It should also be noted that these visits were planned by the President without any prior consultation with the government, and the government was only subsequently informed of the visits, which confirms that the President violated the Constitution with premeditated intent. We were protective of the institution of the President, and we did not make this fact public. However, now that the President herself has made it public, we consider it necessary to issue a political response. Interestingly, in her speech yesterday, the President did not say a single word about her European visits, while she justified the need to convene an extraordinary session on 5 March by saying that she needed to urgently present a report on the visits. This fact also clearly shows that the President returned from Europe without any tangible results. The President’s statements of yesterday about the State Security Council were completely incomprehensible. The Security Council is the Prime Minister’s deliberative governmental body, established by the Government of Georgia for the effective implementation of the policy of state security. The inclusion of nongovernmental entities, representatives of the President and the opposition in this governmental body directly contradicts the logic of the system and the essence of the governmental body. In this case as well, it is obvious that the President of Georgia is either unable to read the Constitution of Georgia and has failed to understand its essence to this day, or in this case as well, she is trying to rewrite the Constitution. The reference to the status of the Commander-in-Chief, given that this status is of exclusively ceremonial significance in a parliamentary republic, indicates that the President is either unwilling or unable to read the Constitution correctly. It should be noted that the Government of Georgia is the main body responsible for the implementation of security policy in the Parliamentary Republic of Georgia. In addition to sessions of government, operational meetings are regularly held with the Prime Minister to discuss security issues. It was at one of these meetings that a representative of the Presidential Administration was invited, who was issued explanations concerning the inexpediency of the President’s visit, which the President did not take into account. Recently, two flagrant precedents of the violation of the Constitution and legislation by the President have been observed against the Parliament as well. Namely, initially, the President announced the date of her arrival in Parliament without the Parliament’s consent, and later, she led the acting ambassador of Ukraine into the main space of the session hall without the Parliament’s consent, which only the Chairman of Parliament is empowered to do, according to the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament. It would seem that the President was well aware of the inconvenience associated with such an act in the context of the Ukrainian authorities having recalled the ambassador and hid her intention from the Chairman of Parliament for this reason. Out of respect and solidarity with the Ukrainian people, we did our best to alleviate the awkward situation created by the President for the acting ambassador, and we demonstrated due respect and support for him during the session of Parliament. Yesterday, we also heard several incomprehensible statements from the President of Georgia in connection with the ongoing processes. One of the “distinguished” statements among them was the following phrase: “The government sins when it does not dare to express what is dictated by our history and dignity.” Furthermore, beyond this insulting phrase, she did not specify what was meant by the government’s timid and unworthy actions. Recall that our government has expressed a clear position in all international forums, during all instances of political decision-making that were related to supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and responding to Russian aggression – be it the suspension of Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe, co-sponsorship of the UN resolution, co-authorship of the complaint lodged in The Hague, or anything else. If the President means that Georgia should have joined the sanctions and become involved in the war, she should say it candidly. Hopefully, she will not repeat the tactics of the radical opposition, which cannot speak openly about sanctions and war but is trying to push the authorities precisely in that direction using all the provocations. The President’s statement concerning the appointment of a representative of an opposition party as minister of European integration was no less incomprehensible. First of all, the President must understand that as soon as an opposition politician becomes a minister, according to the basic laws of politics, he or she no longer is an opposition politician, having become a representative of the ruling coalition. We will not dwell on the nature of the opposition that the President is talking about. It is unclear how the president can justify the expediency of appointing an opposition member to the post of minister of European integration, when she herself noted yesterday the long-known fact that the opposition “is walking about and undermining (the state).” The public can judge for itself the benefits of appointing a subversive minister as minister of European integration. In addition, this statement by the President clearly served to raise public expectations about the pace of European integration. The words of European politicians – Borrell, Macron, Scholz, and others – make it clear that Georgia, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, unfortunately, have a long way to go before EU membership. A number of reforms are needed, which will take a number of years. In this regard, the government has spared no effort so far, and it will continue to do so in the future. In these circumstances, the need to break an open door is incomprehensible; this is the well-known handwriting of the radical opposition. As we have found out, the appointment of an opposition member as minister of European integration was the main message of the President’s speech yesterday, which says a great deal in itself. The actions of the President of Georgia against the Constitution and her baseless statements are especially dangerous at a time when the world and Georgia are facing special security changes in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war. In conclusion, we once again call on the president of Georgia to carefully study the Constitution of Georgia and to comprehend the essence of the parliamentary republic, in the establishment of which she has played a direct role as a member of the Parliament of Georgia in 2017. In that case, she will be insured against mistakes and misconduct at least in the future, and her future actions and statements will not raise so many questions. The President of Georgia must first and foremost respect the Constitution of Georgia and the constitutional responsibilities and obligations of the President.

09 Mar, 2022

As you know, the radical opposition in Georgia has unleashed a powerful information war against the Georgian authorities and its own country in the wake of Russia’s open aggression and the ongoing military hostilities in Ukraine. A similar precedent has not been observed in any country in the world today, regardless of whether a country has joined the sanctions, whether it is sending volunteers with the official consent of the government, and so on. Absolutely all media outlets and party activists of the radical opposition are involved in the information war with their full resources. They are running their malicious campaign in several areas. For example: 1. We have seen that the commotion concerning the special migration of Russian citizens in Georgia turned out to have been absolutely unfounded and deliberately created. As for the issue of the admission or non-admission of specific citizens, regarding which we periodically encounter specific negative campaigns in the information space: As we have already stated, when a foreign citizen enters Georgia, the relevant agencies act to insure against any, even theoretical risks, and make individual decisions on admission in each specific case, in line with their competence. 2. Every speaker and party activist of the radical opposition has been instructed to repeat, at any opportunity and as many times as possible, that Georgia has a Russian government. The campaign is being carried out both within the country and outside it, which is even more damaging and immoral. It seems that they really have hired lobbyists to achieve this goal and the disseminated information confirms this as well. 3. For several days now, a campaign has been underway suggesting that negotiations are taking place with Russia during the war on specific new issues in the field of trade, which is also a crude fake. In reality, the appeal by private companies within the framework of the ongoing trade negotiations on dairy products was sent in 2020, and “for some reason,” Russia’s relevant service issued the response to this appeal four days ago. 4. In recent days, sponsored pages and video clips concerning direct calls for war have appeared on social networks and Internet sites. The message of these video clips, which are being disseminated from outside the country, is being intensified – indirectly, and sometimes through direct hints – by the activists and leaders of the radical opposition by ostensibly playing on moral, national, and masculine emotions, thereby trying to package their attempts at the propaganda of war. 5. False information concerning the alleged change of the place of deployment of individual units of the Georgian armed forces and their movements has also been identified. However, they do not dare to support this fake as openly as in the previous cases. 6. In addition to the fact that they have launched a campaign in several directions within and outside the country as elements of information warfare, you probably have noticed that they are paying special attention to the campaign based on ethnic discrimination. They believe that it is easy to promote this against the current emotional backdrop, and they are organizing various activities with which they are trying to justify discrimination, oppression, and other forms of influence. For its part, this campaign of discrimination, in addition to representing an utterly ignorant and medieval approach, puts at great risk the hundreds of thousands of citizens living in Russia and the occupied regions of Georgia and carries an increased risk of provocations in terms of the by now well-deciphered interest of dragging Georgia into war. It should also be noted that in parallel with these and other campaigns, unfortunately, some representatives of the Ukrainian Government, which is at war with the occupier, often find the time to record so-called “live videos” and issue statements aimed against the Georgian authorities, the reasons for which we have already discussed on one occasion. We will not dwell on the details in the given situation, and we will definitely not enter into a discussion. On the contrary, we will continue to provide political support to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people on absolutely all international platforms while also providing humanitarian support. On the one hand, Russia is conducting open aggression and war on the territory of Ukraine, which violates absolutely all international norms, people are losing their lives, and Georgia, 20 percent of whose territories are occupied by the same state, is facing a great challenge. On the other hand, just a few days ago, our country applied for EU membership candidate status. Against this backdrop, conducting an information war within and outside the country at such a scale, spending large sums of money and lobbying a campaign directed against one’s own country and government is an unprecedented example of fighting against the country and its European future. Naturally, the Georgian authorities are doing everything possible to prevent a war in Georgia, which could lead to a catastrophe for our country and its people. We urge the public to remain calm in the face of the hostile and malicious campaign carried out by the radical opposition, the same fifth column, no matter how difficult it may be, and not to fall for their daily provocations and hybrid informational warfare, which is mainly based on fakes. The main thing now is to head in the right direction and to be righteous not before the war narrative created by a revanchist party, but before the future of our children, our homeland, its security, and national interests, for which we are doing absolutely everything and will continue to do so.

13 Feb, 2022

We would like to inform you about the structural innovation planned in the party. By decision of the party’s Political Council, the party is founding a women’s organization. As you know, the existence of women’s organizations of political parties is a well-established European practice. Women’s organizations are established to ensure the promotion of the role of women and their engagement in party and political processes. Due to various circumstances, our party was able to nominate only three women candidates out of 64 mayoral candidates in the local self-government elections, while nominating candidates for Sakrebulo [City Council] membership, essentially, only within the limits of the electoral quota introduced by us. You will probably agree that these numbers do not correspond to the objective big picture in our society, and that women deserve significantly wider representation in high positions. The establishment of a women’s organization will facilitate the career growth of our women team members, paving the way for them to be more successful in both party structures and public service. The women’s organization will ensure the professional development of the women members of our party while promoting closer cooperation and communication between women party members representing different cities and regions. Organizational meetings will be held in all regions of Georgia until the end of next week in order to establish the women’s organization. The National Conference founding the women’s organization of the Georgian Dream will be held in the near future. It will elect the organization’s board members and heads of city and regional organizations. Eleven city and regional conferences of the women’s organization will be held at a later date to elect the bureaus of city and regional organizations. We believe that the establishment of the ruling party’s women’s organization will not only facilitate the promotion of the role of women in party and political life but also create new opportunities for the protection of women’s rights and the realization of their interests in society.

29 Dec, 2021

Greetings Mr. Chairman, members of Parliament. Greetings to every citizen of our country. First of all, I would like to thank the parliamentary majority for nominating me for the post of Parliament Chairman, and for the declared confidence. This is the greatest honor and responsibility before the public and our political team. Correspondingly, I will do my best to serve our country and people with dignity. Many thanks to Kakha Kuchava, who led the Parliament with dignity during a politically difficult time and was able to consolidate parliamentary life. This year has been one of the most difficult years for our country since independence. The public simultaneously faced occupation, the pandemic, economic challenges, and imposed polarization. Despite these difficult challenges, under our team’s leadership: We kept the peace without retreating We overcame several serious waves of the pandemic We restored the country’s economy to pre-pandemic levels We created a solid foundation for the political stability of the country by conducting the local self-government elections appropriately Our doctors, our policemen, our soldiers, and our teachers were the allies of the Georgian people and authorities in dealing with all these challenges. Many thanks to them and to all the people who stood by the state during this difficult time. The Parliament is the institution in which the power of the people – the source of governmental authority – is expressed to the greatest extent. That is why, as chairman of Parliament, I will stand guard over parliamentary sovereignty. Of course, I am a member of the Georgian Dream team, and thus, I exercise the will of the majority of the people of Georgia. However, as chairman of Parliament, I will be the guarantor of the involvement and participation of the opposition elected by the people. Moreover, despite the existing confrontation, we have a good experience of cooperating with the opposition in this Parliament, which is related to a successful electoral reform. Against this backdrop, the boycott of parliamentary activities by a part of the opposition is particularly disappointing, especially given that the Parliament of Georgia has taken a central place in Georgian politics as a result of the reform of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament carried out by our team. With the new democratic standards, the multi-party Parliament has robust levers to oversee the executive branch of government. The role of the parliamentary opposition has increased in an unprecedented manner. All this creates special conditions for businesslike parliamentary discussion. Integration into NATO and the European Union is our main foreign policy priority. As you are aware, our political team has an ambitious goal to apply for EU membership in 2024. Precisely for this reason, over the next three years we are facing an agenda laden with legislative reforms, which should play a pivotal role in our country’s legislative and institutional rapprochement with the European Union and bring the country’s democratic development to a new level. Our national objective is to unite the country and the bring back our Abkhazian and Ossetian sisters and brothers. And this Parliament will be complete only when the elected representatives from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region will sit in this hall together with us. This is the goal that must unite each and every one of us. We have a distinguished country with dignified people, a unique history, a rich culture, and the church that stands guard over spirituality. This country and these people deserve unity, prosperity, progress, and development. And that is precisely why it is our special duty to dedicate our thoughts and deeds to this goal. This will be my main objective as the chairman of Parliament. May God be our protector!

13 Nov, 2021

Chairman of Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze published a Facebook post on Saturday, in which he addressed the current political events in Georgia, including the arrest of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, administration of justice, and some international reactions to these issues:   “One of the main problems of the Georgian political system is the constant attempt to politicize the judiciary, in which, unfortunately, along with the radical part of the opposition and its affiliated media outlets and non-governmental organizations, radical opposition’s foreign lobbyists are also involved, some of which have political status.  The clearest manifestation of the politicization of justice was their efforts that brought about the release of three criminals in 2020 and 2021 - Gigi Ugulava, Nikanor Melia, and Giorgi Rurua. Everyone sees that, today, these criminals, together with the main culprit Mikheil Saakashvili, play the most active role in polarization, which harms the interests of the Georgian state and society. The direct responsibility for all this, along with the radical opposition, naturally lies with all those who actively demanded the release of the criminals. The vast majority of our foreign partners properly assess the current events in Georgia and have an objective attitude, on the one hand, towards the Georgian statehood and government, and, on the other hand, towards Mikheil Saakashvili and the National Movement. Most of them admit that Mikheil Saakashvili is justly serving his sentence in prison. We often hear sincere criticism and remarks from friends. Such criticism is very valuable to us and we appreciate it. Based on the information that we provided to them, our partners, true friends of Georgia, have often changed their initial position, which confirms their sincerity. However, there is a small number of foreign politicians who stubbornly refuse to change their position and continue the lobbying of the National Movement in a straightforward manner, without any argument. Since the issue of Saakashvili is the most relevant in this regard today, I will touch on this topic in a relatively detailed way. In particular, a few simple questions need to be answered:   When the top state official physically assaults a member of parliament and protects the young man's killers by abusing his or her power, should he or she be punished for these actions (these are the two official charges under which Saakashvili was sentenced to six years in prison; Everyone in Georgia knows everything about the both cases; In addition, the Strasbourg court confirmed Saakashvili's guilt in Girgvliani's case)? The answer to this question is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable, then - yes When a person convicted for these crimes crosses the Georgian border illegally, should he be arrested immediately? The answer to this question is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable, then - yes When a convict goes on a hunger strike without any grounds and demands his release, should his request be satisfied? The answer here is simple: if Georgia is a state and the rule of law is valuable, then - no When a convict asks to be taken to a civilian clinic in order to be released from prison because this will give a chance to his accomplices to release him from there, should the authorities comply with the request? The answer is simple: if Georgia is a state, then - no When a convict refuses to be transferred from one penitentiary to another, the one with a clinical facility, should the state use proportionate measures to transfer the convict? The answer in this case is simple: if Georgia is a state, then – yes Finally, when the convict's accomplices categorically demand the release of footage of his transfer, even though they themselves know that the footage will not be pleasant to watch, and when there is a lot of lies and speculation about the non-release of footage, should the state share full information about the truth? The answer to this question is simple - if Georgia is a state that realizes its responsibility that society should not be misled by anyone, then – yes. Thus, everything is clear today: if Georgia is a state, Mikheil Saakashvili must fully serve his sentence, and only because of his baseless demands, the government should not put the safety of doctors, patients, or law enforcement officials at unnecessary risk. Where there is no justice, there is no peace - the ongoing political processes in Georgia are the best proof of this simple truth. Where justice was not done to the offender, there was a direct threat to peace and stability, which are a necessary condition for the smooth development of the country. Georgian Dream will never allow it. Law is enforced against all persons who have committed a crime. One of the MEPs, who has been a long-time lobbyist for the United National Movement and lobbied for this political force even when Saakashvili's regime killed, raped, robbed businesses, kidnapped independent media outlets, and handed territories over to Russia, called Mikheil Saakashvili a “political prisoner”. We want to ask such people a simple question - do they recognize Georgia as a state? And if they do - do they believe that the rule of law is a necessary attribute of the state? Since 2012, the judiciary and the law enforcement system in general in Georgia have made fundamental progress. This is evidenced by both basic statistics and assessments by reputable international institutions, including the Heritage Foundation, the World Justice Project, the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and others. These ratings confirm that Georgia is a clear leader in the region in terms of independence and efficiency of the judiciary, and even surpasses up to ten EU member states. The judiciary, which was one of the main elements of the repressive machine of the Saakashvili regime, and which violated the dignity, life, health and property of many people in 2004-2012, has been radically and qualitatively transformed since 2012 and has been put in the service of justice. Against this background, the only goal behind all attempts to discredit the Georgian judiciary, is to protect criminals and to pardon them for crimes they have committed in the past or will be carrying out in the future. Naturally, we cannot be loyal to this attempt, which is backed by the same parties, media outlets, non-governmental organizations, and foreign lobbyists. With all of the above in mind, the question is simple - either these people recognize that Georgia is a state and the law must be enacted in the state, or we will have to label them as patrons of criminals. They must show that they are friends of Georgia and not friends of Saakashvili and his criminal team-mates. If the law is not enforced against the criminals, especially against the criminals who are still driven by the ambition to return to power, Georgia will never be able to get out of the closed circle of polarization, and the Georgian Dream cannot and will not allow this to happen. In the future, when we evaluate the steps of our foreign partners, the guide will be the main principle reflected in this letter - the Georgian state cannot cooperate with people who do not recognize this state as such, only due to political bias in favor of the criminals.”

29 Oct, 2021

Greetings, First of all, I would like to respond to the information disseminated by the State Security Service. This information once again proved that the United National Movement is evil – it is a revanchist political force whose sole purpose is to create unrest and chaos in our country. The state and the authorities are at their best and will not allow anyone to achieve such goals. We thank the State Security Service and every one of its corresponding employees for detecting this plan and responding to it in a timely manner. No one who aims to attack Georgia’s security and stability will go unpunished. Everyone will be held accountable before the law and in accordance with the law. The information disseminated by the State Security Service has once again shed light on the real purpose of the simulated chronicle of Mikheil Saakashvili’s hunger strike. The plan was to simulate deteriorating health conditions in order to force the department to relocate Saakashvili to a different location, which would have given the United National Movement a chance to stage a severe provocation. Of course, any such attempt would have been met with a proper response from the state. Today, everyone saw that Saakashvili’s simulated hunger strake is doomed to failure, just like his sneaky method of entering Georgia. We must also respond to the falsification of the results of the sociological survey by the United National Movement’s partisan television station, Mtavari Arkhi, which once again showed that the false data from previous surveys and exit polls were the result of gross falsification, rather than incompetence. People who rigged elections while in power are now trying to achieve their destructive goals by falsifying surveys and exit polls. It would be a great mistake to consider these three pieces of information independently. Naturally, Saakashvili’s simulated hunger strike, the falsification of sociological surveys, and the planning of unrest closes the circle, which once again proves the evil nature of the United National Movement and its revolutionary and destructive plans. I would also like to respond to the departure of Irakli Tavdgiridze, the head of Gakharia’s party’s Batumi organization and the newly elected member of Batumi City Council, from this party and his decision to openly distance himself from the United National Movement’s agenda. Today, everyone who evaluates the events appropriately can see that the public has a clear choice between destruction and peace. Refusing to take a stance, staying at home, and not making a choice during such times means giving destruction a chance. Therefore, we welcome Irakli Tavdgiridze’s principled decision to publicly distance himself from the United National Movement’s agenda. This country needs peace, stability, and development rather than chaos and unrest. This is precisely why I urge everyone to come to the elections tomorrow so that we may see the victory of 2 October through to the end. We call on the representatives of the United National Movement not to dare to stage provocations tomorrow, on Election Day, and to give voters the opportunity to vote in a peaceful environment. We also call on our supporters to face any possible provocations in a peaceful manner. Furthermore, I call on our supporters to film any provocation and to send us the footage or upload it to the social media. We believe that tomorrow, our citizens will say no to evil, violence, and lies for good, and will support development, peace, and stability, which are essential conditions for economic progress, the employment of people, and the improvement of social conditions. From the day after the elections, in the coming years, our efforts will be fully directed toward this goal. I urge you once again to come to the elections! Once again, say no to the United National Movement, to evil, unrest, and lies! Choose peace and development! Vote for our candidates in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, Rustavi, Poti, Zugdidi, Telavi, Ozurgeti, Tsalenjikha, Chkhorotsku, Martvili, Senaki, Khobi, Tskaltubo, Baghdati, Tsageri, Khelvachauri, Tianeti, Kareli and Khashuri. Through our unity, tomorrow we must see the victory of 2 October through to the end!

29 Oct, 2021

Yesterday, we informed the public about the discovery we made regarding the falsification of pre-election polls by television company Mtavari Arkhi and IPSOS, which was connected with the polls in several municipalities, published by television company Mtavari Arkhi two days ago. As you know, the dissimilar data from Zugdidi exposed the fact that these traces of falsification could not be completely erased and precisely this gave us a hint that falsification had taken place here. Today, you saw the response of Mtavari Arkhi General Director Nika Gvaramia, who is trying to shift the blame onto IPSOS. In truth, the case is as follows: Not only are these two entities not two distinct companies, but this has been taking place systematically since the time when IPSOS came to Georgia and began conducting pre-election polls for Mtavari Arkhi. This falsification has been evident every time, therefore, this is coordinated action and this attempt by Mtavari Arkhi to shift the blame onto IPSOS is an even greater scandal. In reality, if we look at the figures from, say, the 2020 parliamentary elections, when a pre-election survey was conducted by IPSOS two weeks before the elections and broadcast by Mtavari Arkhi, the Georgian Dream should have received 38 percent in the elections, when in fact the Georgian Dream received 48.2 percent. I.e., IPSOS and Mtavari Arkhi gave the Georgian Dream 10.2 percent less in the survey. You may also remember that an exit poll was conducted last year, during the parliamentary elections. According to this exit poll as well as IPSOS’ and Mtavari Arkhi’s data, the Georgian Dream garnered 41 percent, when in reality, the Georgian Dream garnered 48.2 percent. I.e., in this case as well, the manipulation amounted to 7.2 percent, which was subtracted by IPSOS and Mtavari Arkhi. Even now, in the run-up to the local self-government elections, when the survey was conducted, the survey showed that the Georgian Dream’s rating amounted to 35 percent according to IPSOS and Mtavari Arkhi, when in reality the Georgian Dream received 46.7 percent – i.e., IPSOS and Mtavari Arkhi gave the Georgian Dream 11.7 percent less. This proves once again that this is not an exception; we discussed this yesterday as well, and even before this, we have said that the polls were being manipulated. However, we could prove this only indirectly, by comparing the results of surveys and the results of the elections, and of course, when there is a ten-percent difference on average, this is nothing short of manipulation, hence our discussion of this issue. However, yesterday we were given the opportunity to see the facts directly, as it turned out that the traces of manipulation had not been erased. Therefore, these attempts to shift the blame are, of course, superfluous. Additionally, as you are aware, IPSOS does not field the surveys itself – the surveys are fielded at the given location by a local company, therefore this group includes not only IPSOS and Mtavari Arkhi but also Business Consulting Group (BCG), a local company. We have discussed this many times – this is a research organization that has ties with Levan Tarkhnishvili who, as you know, is one of the leaders of European Georgia and who was the chairman of the Central Election Commission in 2008, when the parliamentary elections were held. You may recall this slide from other presentations – when we talked about ballot shortages, we used to show you that the shortage of ballots in imbalanced protocols in 2020 or 2021 was within the average margin that is usually observed during elections, with 2008 being the exception when the shortage amounted to one percent. This is precisely the year when Levan Tarkhnishvili was the chairman of the Central Election Commission. Also, you are of course aware that everyone is in agreement that a great deal of manipulation and rigging took place during those elections. Correspondingly, when we are dealing with a company that is fielding surveys, which has incurred such reputational damage, and which is associated with persons who have participated in election fraud; when we are dealing with television company Mtavari Arkhi and IPSOS, given that, as we have shown you, the data from the two previous elections revealed a ten-percent difference between the actual data and the polls – any talk of shifting the blame is already superfluous, and we are dealing with an obvious manipulation.

22 Oct, 2021

Hello! We would like to continue to draw public attention to the activities of local observer organizations affiliated with specific political entities. We would like to remind you that we held a briefing on this issue for the public before the first round, on September 9 and 29, on the basis of which 20 local organizations registered by the CEC were revealed through public sources. 15 of these organizations are affiliated with the United National Movement, 3 - with European Georgia, and 2 - for the party "Georgia". After the mentioned briefings, a number of so-called NGOs said live that the Georgian Dream was discrediting them and was putting pressure on civil society. One of those who made such statements was Mr. Vasil Urushadze, the head of Platform 20/20. A couple of days ago, the whole society witnessed how Vasil Urushadze was nominated by Nikanor Melia as a member of his team and as a candidate for the leadership of one of the most important services in the Tbilisi City Hall. This confirmed that Mr. Urushadze and Platform 20/20, which stood out in both 2020 and 2021 by conducting an election-discrediting campaign, are directly linked to the United National Movement. We have repeatedly publicly requested that local observer organizations identified by us with political entities identify the source of funding, which has not yet been done. Due to the fact that Mr. Urushadze has been officially named as a member of the Opposition Party, we request that Platform 20/20 publicly present the source of funding for their monitoring of the elections and the ‘Voice Guardian’ project. Taking into consideration that Platform 20/20 has been linked to the United National Movement, their activities may be seen as illegal donations. Accordingly, we call on local and international organizations to take an interest in this fact.

18 Oct, 2021

­Greetings, my friends! I greet my Tbilisi and my fellow citizens! First of all, I would like to once again thank every single voter. Over the past two months, I presented a detailed report to the residents of Tbilisi on what I have done for the city during the past four years and what I plan to do in the next four years. During this time, I, my spouse, my parents, and perhaps most unfortunately, my young children have become the targets of an unprecedented campaign of aggression, hate, and lies. Nevertheless, I decided to run a European-style, future-oriented election campaign which, rather than being aimed at presenting the opponents’ shortcomings and flaws, was aimed at offering the most sophisticated and well-thought-out city development plan to the residents of Tbilisi. We have offered the residents of Tbilisi a detailed election program and a number of large-scale projects which, I believe, will make Tbilisi an even more developed, European, beautiful, green, and attractive city, and bring more life to every district of Tbilisi. Unfortunately, the public has not heard a single valuable suggestion from my opponent concerning the development of Tbilisi. Instead, their entire campaign was aimed at overthrowing the government, stirring up unrest, and the so-called referendum. To this day, the runner-up candidate has done nothing for the country and the city other than bankrupting private companies, trying to break into state buildings, and constantly staging hooligan provocations. Friends, a solid future is determined by a solid foundation, which is based on the correct analysis of the past. Tbilisi passed a verdict on the political force that is opposing us in the second round a long time ago. Unfortunately, however, even today we have to remind everyone once again of the violations of citizens’ dignity, the violence, the terror, the seizure of property, the murder of innocent young people, the trampling of the freedom of speech, the crackdown on the media, the cynicism, the lies, and the racketeering that used to take place… This is the dark past of our country and our city, to which we will never ever return. However, we must never forget it either, so that we may remember the path that we have walked and the mistakes that we have made. The victory of 2 October needs to be seen through to the end! And the vote cast by every voter is decisive in this case. I ask and urge every citizen in all 20 municipalities where the second round is taking place to come to the elections so that we may put an end to the Bolshevism, the evil, the hatred, and the lies that are embodied by the United National Movement in this country once and for all! Those of you who remember the dark past and reject it, as well as those of you who are thinking about the future and know exactly what kind of a city you would like to live in should definitely come to the elections on 30 October. Tbilisi and Georgia do not need revenge and chaos – they need progress and peace. I believe that progress and stability will prevail over revenge and chaos on 30 October! Tbilisi and Georgia will emerge victorious on 30 October! Let’s see our victory through to the end!

03 Oct, 2021

Good morning, I would once again like to congratulate everyone on the convincing victory of the Georgian Dream. As you know, the Central Election Commission has announced the results of the elections, according to which the Georgian Dream won by a large margin across the country. We would like to remind you of the data from 2,775 electoral precincts: Georgian Dream: 47.83% United National Movement: 30.69% For Georgia: 7.48% Lelo: 2.62% European Georgia: 1.75% Alliance of Patriots: 1.43% Third Force: 1.31% More Freedom – Girchi: 1.22% All other parties have received less than one percent of the vote. Given that three quarters of electoral precincts have already been counted, naturally, these data will not change substantially. Georgian Dream mayoral candidates won in the first round in 44 out of 64 constituencies. The second round will be held in 20 municipalities. It is especially disappointing that it became necessary to hold the second round in Tbilisi as well. Naturally, however, no one doubts that Kakha Kaladze will win this election in the end. It is very important that Kakha Kaladze will have a solid majority in Tbilisi City Council for the next four years. Specifically, according to the CEC’s preliminary data, the Georgian Dream will be represented by at least 29 members in Tbilisi City Council. We note once again that the convincing victory of the Georgian Dream yesterday was the victory of peace, stability, and development in Georgia. The Georgian public has given a fitting answer to the radical forces that are built on lies and hate and are thirsty for revenge. We promise the public that all our mayoral candidates will win the second round of the elections on 30 October. Once again, we congratulate the public on our joint victory.

03 Oct, 2021

We would like to inform you about the preliminary election results according to the election protocols, i.e., we are talking about official protocols, which we are receiving from polling stations. As we announced today, these data are posted on the relevant web portal, elections2021.ge, where they can be viewed by any citizen, any one of you. In the coming hours, the information on this portal will be constantly updated at intervals of about 10 minutes and finally, in two-three hours, the information on the results of the elections will be presented in full. At this stage, the results from Tbilisi have not been presented yet as it takes more time to count the results in the city. As regards the data available at this stage: 544 out of 3,743 precincts have been counted, which amounts to 14,53% of the precincts. About 139,000 votes have been counted in total, and the results are as follows: Georgian Dream – 52.54% United National Movement – 29.45% For Georgia – 5.71% Other parties have lower results. It is our expectation, given everything, given the analysis, that the final results will approximate the exit poll results published by Imedi TV and Gorbi. As you are aware, the figure announced by them in terms of exit poll results was 47.6%, and this is our ultimate expectation. To reiterate, citizens will be able to receive constantly updated information on the above-mentioned website – elections2021.ge.

02 Oct, 2021

As of this moment, we can say that the elections are taking place in a very calm environment. We have recorded a total of five incidents, or more precisely, incidents at five precincts. All five cases concerned verbal disputes – no violence has taken place. These five precincts amount to 0.13 percent of 3,743 precincts. Interestingly, we had cases where Ms. Ana Tsitlidze, Ms. Elene Khoshtaria, and Giorgi Mumladze, who is the head of the United National Movement’s Marneuli headquarters, were involved. These people featured in almost all of the five cases. As regards violations that we have identified: At Electoral Precinct 9 in Kobuleti, Iona Ananidze, who is number three on the United National Movement’s list, is on the premises of the electoral precinct and refuses to leave the premises, which is a violation. Also, at Electoral Precinct 27 in Sarpi, the United National Movement candidate summoned one of the observers from a nongovernmental organization from the precinct, which indicates their connection with the said nongovernmental organization. This does not constitute a violation, however it once again confirms our investigation, when we said that political organizations are represented under the guise of certain nongovernmental organizations. In the village of Arboshiki in Dedoplistskaro, a voter queue controller asked voters to circle number five, which is a violation. At Electoral Precinct 14 in Lanchkhuti, the rule on displaying posters and campaigning near an electoral precinct has been violated. Also in Lanchkhuti, near Electoral Precinct 9, the father of the candidate of the For Georgia party, who is a former policeman, is standing near the Electoral Precinct and controlling voters and passers-by. In Tbilisi, at Electoral Precinct 66 in Vake, the coordinators of the United National Movement are in a parked car, in violation of the 100-meter radius, and controlling the voters from there. At Electoral Precinct 9 in Lanchkhuti, the rule on displaying posters and campaigning was violated by the For Georgia party. In total, including this briefing and the previous one, we have identified four cases of voter tallying inside the 100-meter radius by the opposition, four cases of violating the principle of assembly inside the 100-meter radius, four cases of illegal campaigning, and two other types of violations. It is also important to note the erroneous information being disseminated through the media and the social media. Recently, the CEC held a briefing concerning Electoral Precinct 124 in Kutaisi, regarding which we saw that an entire campaign was launched on the social media, with information concerning a protocol being filled out in advance. In reality, there was a mistake, the secretary at the electoral precinct made a mistake and filled out the control protocol – he/she though that he/she was filling out a control protocol and filled out the real protocol instead. As you know, the CEC also stated that there were signatures from the representatives of several parties, i.e., there as no malicious intent here, this was a mistake and, of course, this mistake will be corrected. Also, according to the United National Movement, one of the precincts in Dedoplistskaro contained an unsealed ballot box, and they claimed that the voting process must be suspended there because of this. In reality, the box was sealed with a small seal, and this took place with the participation of all commission members. When they checked and found that the box was not open, it was resealed with the participation of all members of the commission, so there is no major violation here either. Finally, in connection with Electoral Precinct 19 in Lagodekhi, Radio Liberty reported that people are voting in pairs. While this fact is true, it is also manipulative in the sense that there has been no violation here. A voter had an eyesight-related problem. There were two such cases. In both cases, because the voters themselves had a problem, the commission allowed a helper to accompany the voters in the cabins. These are the violations that we have identified as of this moment. I would like to call on our voters once again to be active. We have a pretty good level of activity. Our data show that the Georgian Dream will attain a convincing victory for the eighth time now. However, this requires everyone to be active because as we know, the second half of the day is precisely when our opponents will start mobilizing their voters very actively, and we see this in various polling stations, especially in Tbilisi. We have also shown you that their coordinators are around the electoral precincts, so I call on our voters – today is their day to have a say in who should be in power in the municipalities.

02 Oct, 2021

As stated by our colleagues who have been holding briefings and informing the public throughout the day, the elections are mostly peaceful, especially at locations where there are no provocations and staged performances. Voter activity is quite normal, in connection with which we once again call on our supporters to be as active as possible, in which case we can already say that the Georgian Dream will secure a convincing victory, which is absolutely to be expected, given the data coming from our headquarters. Individual violations have taken place, buts its authors are completely different persons from what some broadcasters are conveying to the public. Several violations by the United National Movement have been identified and are being recorded; however, we are not going to organize some provocations and blame someone for the violations. I would like to emphasize the following for the benefit of you the journalists and any people who sincerely lack information about this: The relevant special norm has been established within the framework of the unprecedented electoral reform, according to which all forms of campaigning, recording voters, and so forth have been prohibited within the 100-meter radius, and everyone must observe this, be it our supporter, our representative, or the representative of any other party. The 100-meter radius must be strictly observed; however, they can of course carry out any legal action outside the 100-meter radius. Even if they engage in campaigning while wearing party t-shirts, this is not a violation if it takes place outside the 100-meter radius. I say this because of one main reason: The representatives of a certain television station, as well as party activists – it does not matter who they are and whom they represent – have reported that someone is allegedly sitting outside the 100-meter radius with a list, keeping some records, calling on activists to come to the elections. This is unequivocally not a violation, as long as the 100-meter radius is strictly observed. Unfortunately, we see that certain television stations are approaching specific vehicles outside the 100-meter radius, recording the people sitting in the vehicles, chasing passers-by and telling them that they do not have the right to be there. This is unequivocally incorrect information because – and I have had to repeat this many times – it is not a violation outside the 100-meter radius. This even applies to calling on people or engaging in campaigning – the main thing is to keep this distance.

02 Oct, 2021

Today is an important day for our country, a day that will determine the development of each municipality over the next 4 years. The vote of each voter is important to ensure that the decent candidates are elected as mayors and members of the local government councils in all 64 municipalities. Accordingly, we call on voters to be active. Today, the polling stations were opened at 8 o’clock in the morning, in accordance to the legislation, and the election procedures were conducted without any significant shortcomings, for that we thank each and every member of the election administration. Today, it is especially important that the voters are given the opportunity to cast their vote in a peaceful and calm environment. Naturally, provocations are expected. We call on all persons engaged in the election process, especially, the members of our party and our supporters, to respond to any provocation with a maximum calmness and patience. Do not allow provocateurs to achieve their goal.We also call on the televisions belonging to the United National Movement, contrary to their established tradition, not to attempt creating a false perceptions about the election environment through artificial unrest. We once again call on voters to be active. We are confident that the Georgian society will give an adequate response to radical political forces and Georgian Dream convincingly win in this elections.

01 Oct, 2021

Greetings, Today, the pre-election campaign is coming to an end and we would like to summarize the past two month. As you all know, the pre-election campaign was held in an unprecedentedly calm and peaceful environment. Despite several serious provocations carried out by the United National Movement during the last 10 days prior to the elections, they were unable to artificially worsen the election environment.  Unfortunately, one of the provocations ended with a severe incident, and as you are aware, in this particular case, too, the law enforcement officers responded immediately. I would like to thank our activists and supporters for their patience and for a peaceful response to the provocations. The preliminary reports published up to date by international and local organizations, confirm that no election violations have been confirmed during the pre-election period, which would have made even a minor impact on the final results of election. We would like to thank the heads of our local election headquarters, mayoral and city council candidates, and the tens of thousands of members and supporters of our party, who have spared no efforts over the past two month to ensure the Georgian Dream’s eighth consecutive victory in free and fair elections. We would like to thank the law enforcement agencies, the election administration and all constructive opposition parties for their contribution to ensuring a healthy pre-election environment. Over the past two month, the Georgian Dream has been the only political force, which has been meeting with citizens in the Capital, in regions, in every single municipality, villages, towns and districts, presenting the election program to them and talking about how the party sees the development of each and every town and village, providing solutions to the people’s concerns. Unlike us, the radical opposition talked about uncertain referendum, with the uncertain messages, which are completely uninteresting to the public. We are confident that this attitude towards citizens will be vividly reflected in the election results. The matter of a local government is decided during the local government elections. However, naturally, these elections carry a serious political significance. Tomorrow are held the last election until 2024. Consequently, after the 2 October elections end, the country will be given the opportunity for a peaceful and stable development, economic progress, defeating poverty and further strengthening our country’s foreign positions. For this purpose, it is important to fully mobilize  Georgian society tomorrow, against those political forces that, for years, have been dragging the country back into the heavy past. They wanted a referendum? They will get a referendum along with local elections and this will be a referendum ending the United National Movement and its satellites, abusers and traitors. Georgian democracy needs this. This is needed for the strength of the Georgian state and the Georgian church. There is no place in the Georgian democracy for the radical, anti-state and anti-church groups. Tomorrow, these forces must recieve the adequately answer from the Georgian society. As confirmed by all reliable sociological surveys, Georgian Dream is convincingly winning the local elections. Our mayoral candidates are winning elections in the very first round in the vast majority of municipalities. Of course, the final results depends on the will and the active turnout of voters. Therefore, we would like to once again call on citizens be active at their maximum. We are confident that the "Development to All Regions" and "More Life in Every District of Tbilisi" will win tomorrow. There is no alternative to Georgia's progress and development, peace and stability!

01 Oct, 2021

Greetings to everyone! Nine years have passed since the historic victory of the Georgian Dream, and it is symbolic that today the United National Movement as a political force came to an end. One day is left until the next convincing victory of the Georgian Dream. Our citizens will elect mayors and members of local assemblies tomorrow. Our country meets these elections with the reformed legislation and election administration. As a result of the reforms carried out by the Parliament of Georgia: Part of party members of the election commissions has been diversified and now the 9 party is equally represented in it. This serves to the mutual control of parties in the commissions. Among the 29 000 professional members of the election commissions of districts, 99,9 % was elected by the participation of the opposition. This fact confirms multiparty trust towards the election commission. The 100 meter perimeter is designed for the polling stations where gathering of citizens is prohibited. Which will ensure a peaceful election environment. 10% of polling stations will be randomly selected and recounted, which together with the control of the counting results, will prevent any violations; Video fixation of the counting process of ballot papers will be ensured and also video files will be shared in the internet for the open access of every citizen; The electronic counters of ballot papers will be provided in Krtsanisi, Tbilisi which is an important step towards the introduction of electronic elections in future. There are also many other changes ensuring that no one can discredit the results of these elections. Today, we want to introduce one more unprecedented novelty of the party “Georgian Dream” and to offer it to the society. We deem that the elections itself and the day of elections, being the most fundamental moment of democracy, must be under the special attention of citizens. To this aim, we created - “Election Portal 2021” – the special space in the internet where citizens can receive important information on the day of elections. Portal is accessible at the following internet address: elections2021.ge

30 Sep, 2021

As you know, two days are left before the local elections. It is clear that the pre-election campaign was conducted in unprecedented peaceful environment. No significant irregularities were observed which could have even slight influence of the election results. Despite numerous provocations in recent days, the UNM has not been able to artificially worsen pre-election environment. I would like to especially thank the members and supporters of the party Georgian Dream for peacefully response to several insults and provocations by the destructive opposition. Special attention is needed on the election day. Provocative and destructive actions are expected from radical opposition. There is a lot of leaked information about destructive plans from the offices of the United National Movement. We will take your attention solely on major expected provocations and destructive actions: They are willing to make numerous complaints in the election administration, as it happened after the parliamentary elections 2020. The purpose of this is, on the one hand, to artificially increase the number of complaints, and on the other hand, to create an artificial obstacle to the work of the commissions. We would also like to remind you that since the introduction of electronic platform, the submission of complaints to election commissions has been substantially simplified. In some polling stations they plan to steal election inventory and documentation (election lists, stamps). As in all previous elections, opposition representatives plan to artificially cause imbalances by manipulating signatures and removing ballot papers from the polling stations; In order to reduce the voter turnout, it is planned to create artificial queues at the polling stations; Also, members of the commission appointed by the radical opposition are instructed by the UNM not to sign polling station protocols even if no election irregularities are reported at the polling station. Naturally, the persons who issued and execute that kind of illegal instructions will be responsible to the law. In addition, we have information that the heads of the UNM headquarters are issuing orders to disrupt polling stations. For example, we have information that the Batumi mayoral candidate of the UNM, Giorgi Kirtadze personally met with the members of  election commission appointed by UNM and instructed them to disrupt more than 20 polling stations (The numbers of that electoral districts are: 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 11, 15, 17, 19, 23, 21, 61, 62, 64, 71, 72, 20, 28, 27, 102 and 103). We would like to remind everyone that artificially disrupting a polling station is a criminal offense and everyone will be severely punished for such action.   It is clear that the above-mentioned provocations are main challenges of the election day, which is a characteristic of the UNM. Moreover, it is planned to verbally abuse the members of electoral commissions, representatives and observers, in order to inspire physical confrontation on the ground. The National Movement has already piloted such provocations in recent days through Zviad Kuprava. We warn the radical opposition that such actions will not go unpunished and all offenders will be held accountable.   The Georgian Dream fully realizes the responsibility it has to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections. Accordingly, we will do our best to enable voters to vote in a free and peaceful environment. On October 2nd , we call on everyone to be as active as possible.

30 Sep, 2021

Hello, We would like to provide the public with information on the monitoring of the upcoming municipal elections by local organizations. The people of our country are convinced that the opposition has no vision and therefore cannot offer the voters anything concerning the development of the next 4 years.  The Georgian Dream team carried out an active pre-election campaign in all cities and municipalities and presented to the population the concrete results of the projects implemented over the last 4 years. We also informed the population about the important plans that are focused on the well-being of each citizen and which should bring more benefits to each of our fellow citizens in the years to come. Despite numerous briefings and statements made by us, the radical wing of the opposition is focused not on October 2, but on October 3, on destruction and disorder.  In this regard, radical opposition party televisions are actively involved in the process, while NGOs affiliated with them are trying to discredit the CEC in the run-up to the elections and are preparing for biased monitoring on Election Day. Three weeks ago, we provided the public with interim information about local observation organizations that have registered at the CEC to monitor the October 2 elections and which are confirmed by public sources to be in direct contact with the parties. We have publicly called on them to provide information to the public by whom and from what sources they are funded. We are not surprised that they did not do so, which reinforces the feeling that they are funded by the opposition parties affiliated with them. Today we present a brief summary report on the local observation organizations registered at the CEC, which are expected to monitor the October 2 elections. As of September 30, the CEC had registered 88 local organizations, 16 of which did not have experience in election monitoring in previous years. Based on the public sources, it was found that 20 out of these 88 organizations, i.e. in fact every fourth organization is affiliated with parties; 15 of them with the National Movement, 3 - with European Georgia and 2 with the party For Georgia. It is remarkable that 88 local organizations will have a total of 31,170 observers for the October 2 elections, of which 8482 observers come from 20 organizations affiliated with the parties, which is 27% of the total number of observers. In other words, every fourth local observer will pursue the interests of the parties at the polling stations.  It is more than clear that the observation mission produced by these organizations cannot be objective. We let the public analyze and assess this issue. Here we would like to emphasize that the identification of the presented organizations in affiliation with specific political entities was carried out based on pubic sources. We do not exclude that among the remaining organizations there are still some organizations covertly affiliated with specific political entities. We call on these organizations once again to make public their source of funding. We would like to inform you that today the above-mentioned information will be provided to international observation missions and diplomatic representations accredited in Georgia with the relevant analysis and attached catalog.

23 Sep, 2021

Kakha Kaladze - More Life In Every District It is a great honor for any person, especially a Georgian, to lead Tbilisi – one of the oldest cities in the world – for four years and to have the opportunity to serve its unique history, present, and future. Tbilisi is a special city with its own legends, history, and diversity, as well as its own opportunities and challenges. I am grateful to the people living in Tbilisi, first of all, for giving me a chance to serve my city and my country; for the support I felt at every decisive moment for four years – I felt that I was not alone when I made possibly painful but necessary decisions for the future of our city.

23 Sep, 2021

I would like to briefly comment on the provocation staged by Nikanor Melia today.For the past few days, we have been talking on a daily basis about the fact that serious provocations were being planned in the offices of the United National Movement with the aim of artificially worsening the pre-election environment.We have seen examples of this in Kareli, Dmanisi, Batumi, and Khelvachauri over the past few days.The event that took place today clearly proves that what happened in the above-mentioned four municipalities was no spontaneous provocation, and that the United National Movement’s plan was in fact behind the said events. We witnessed yet another example of this today, performed by Nikanor Melia, who is an unintelligent hooligan and a provocateur who only sees his political chance in provocations.It is symbolic that Nikanor Melia staged the provocation in front of the office of the European Union, prior to meeting with EU ambassadors. This was a demonstrative statement, according to which Melia has no regard for the appeals of our Western partners and consciously incites polarization in front of their office.Today’s provocation also proves that it is very difficult not to respond to such provocations. I too found it difficult to endure today’s provocations and insults, especially coming from a criminal. I apologize to the public for the words they heard from me today.Against this backdrop, I would like to once again call on every one of our supporters, our party members, and activists, to approach any such provocation with patience. We must ensure a calm and peaceful election environment. On 2 October, the Georgian Dream will attain a convincing victory in the self-government elections, as a result of which the criminals will be removed from politics for good.

19 Sep, 2021

Greetings, As it is known, a nongovernmental organization – the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association – has filed a constitutional lawsuit demanding the recognition of the majoritarian electoral system, on the basis of which municipal elections will be held in two weeks, as unconstitutional. We all remember than in 2016, a similar lawsuit was filed by the United National Movement in the Constitutional Court, in its own name, with the aim of supporting the revolutionary scenario. At the time, the efforts of the United National Movement proved unsuccessful, the Constitutional Court refused to satisfy the United National Movement’s absurd lawsuit, and the revolutionary scenario failed. It is alarming that what the United National Movement did openly, in its own name, five years ago is now being done in the name of a nongovernmental organization. It is alarming that an organization bearing the status of a nongovernmental organization is planning to create a problem for the elections with a new, absurd lawsuit, two weeks before the said elections. When you say nothing about a law adopted three months ago on the basis of a broad political consensus either during the process of passing the law, or in the three months since its adoption, and then protest the law in the most active pre-election phase, two weeks before the elections – this fact, of course, speaks volumes about the highly unwholesome political motive behind the lawsuit. I will not talk long about the absurdity of the lawsuit today. To question the municipal electoral system on the pretext that the majoritarian constituencies are not thoroughly equalized is complete nonsense. Even a superficial understanding of the practices of democratic countries would be sufficient to prove this. However, it seems that the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association could not – or rather, would not – take interest in the said practices. Such events once again demonstrate that the United National Movement has exhausted all hope of achieving any success in the 2 October elections. Against this backdrop, the only solution that they can see involves creating artificial problems and disorder. However, even these attempts of theirs are doomed to failure. It is unfortunate that such actions of groups that bear the status of a nongovernmental organization cast a shadow over the nongovernmental organization as an institution, which, according to their own research, enjoys the lowest level of confidence among the Georgian public. Such actions, which contribute to the scenario of unrest, further deepen public distrust toward NGOs and cause their words to lose their value.

17 Sep, 2021

We would like to provide you with information about the facts pertaining to the course of the pre-election process that were presented in the interim reports prepared by local observer organizations in connection with the 2021 local self-government elections. Additionally, today we will discuss the violations aimed against the Georgian Dream party that we have identified. As regards the interim reports by local observer organizations: Our team analyzed the interim reports prepared by three organizations – Transparency International Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, and ISFED. The analysis revealed the following key findings: All three interim reports, which should have included facts identified during the pre-election campaign, list cases that took place before the start of the election campaign, i.e., before 3 August 2021. For example, the GYLA report begins on 1 May, while the reports by Transparency International and ISFED begin from 1 June, i.e., 2-3 months before the start of the election campaign. Discussing the violation of election legislation during this period is, of course, superfluous. That is precisely why the organizations – instead of discussing the violation of the rules of the election campaign – used novel terms, such as “activities carried out with the aim of winning the hearts of voters,” and assessed these cases as violations. By this logic, any activity carried out by the government outside the pre-election period can be assessed as being aimed at winning the hearts of voters, which is unequivocally wrong and leads to the formation of incorrect perceptions among the public, suggesting that some violations may have taken place. For this reason, we call on these organizations to make it clear in their reports that the election campaign started on 3 August, and that any of the cases that precede this date cannot constitute violations of election campaign rules. There is a general trend in all three reports of pointing out that “the identified violations are not in themselves violations of the law; however, they constitute bad practice and are detrimental to the formation of a healthy pre-election environment.” Such statements make it unclear to the public whether a specific political entity violated the law or if its actions simply did not meet an internal standard set by a particular organization. They also create an expectation among the public that all published facts constitute violations of law, regardless of whether they are in fact violations, and that the state does not respond to them. It should be noted that a fundamental reform of the electoral legislation was carried out just two months ago, and it was adopted by the Parliament by nearly full consensus. During this reform, all issues that should have been prohibited by the legislation of Georgia were, in fact, prohibited. Correspondingly, two months after the reform, the observer organizations’ assessment of various actions in accordance with an additional standard and the presentation of the said actions in a manner that suggests that they constitute violations of the law, in our estimation, does not meet the standard of conscientious observation. Therefore, if these organizations decide to use additional criteria during the evaluation of the actions of political entities, we urge them to do so in a transparent manner and to make it clear to the public which part of their reports concerns possible violations of electoral legislation, and which part concerns the standard set by their organization. In particular, this concerns instances of merging violations of the law and violations of internal standards into a single statistic, which gives rise to a false perception of the number and severity of violations. There is also a trend of the reports describing cases that are based solely on subjective perceptions and stories told by stakeholders or third parties, in a manner that does not contain even circumstantial evidence. Therefore, we are calling on these organizations to make use of at least the minimum standard of proof, so as to prevent their reports from inadvertently becoming tools for the dissemination of disinformation. It is also important that the organizations remove from their reports the cases that have been identified as non-violations. According to our observations, this has not taken place yet. In addition, we would like to draw the public’s attention once again to the so-called Civic Election Commission, which was created by the Shame Movement and the Association of Public Initiatives. We demonstrated the connection of the said organization with the United National Movement with documentary evidence at our 9 September briefing. It is obvious that they aim to discredit the elections and to prepare the ground for the sabotage of the elections for the United National Movement. We urge local and international monitoring missions to take an interest in the goals of these organizations’ activities and the sources of their funding. As regards the violations identified by us: Since September 2021, our team has been systematically providing information to local and international observer missions on violations against the Georgian Dream and the competitive election environment. We hope that these organizations will ensure that these data are reflected in the reports prepared by them. From 1 September 2021 to present day, we have identified 13 violations, of which: Seven are related to damage to election materials of Georgian Dream; Two are instances of alleged bribery; Two concern the use of administrative resources; One is a threat; One concerns the participation of a CEC member appointed by the United National Movement in pre-election campaigning. We would like to emphasize that in order for the elections to be conducted in a fair manner, it is important for the actions of all political forces to be monitored with equal intensity during the pre-election period, and for the cases cited in the reports to be based on facts rather than just hearsay and perceptions. This is particularly important given the context that international monitoring missions rely on the reports of local observer organizations, among other sources. Our political team will continue to keep the public and international partners informed about the pre-election process in order to facilitate the holding of local self-government elections in line with democratic and international standards.

10 Sep, 2021

Hello. As you know, there is a little more than 3 weeks before the elections and the opposition parties, especially the radical opposition, are not actively campaigning, which strengthens the feeling that they are not preparing for the October 2 elections, but for the October 3 destruction. In this regard, various mechanisms are involved and they carry out active provocative activities in many directions. We, as the responsible government, consider it expedient to inform the public in detail about the activities of the radical opposition that are damaging to the country and with which they want to prepare the situation and create a background for the alleged falsification of the October 2 elections. It is noteworthy that the experience gained from the elections in recent years makes it clear that the elections, along with neutral NGOs, are also observed by local organizations that are affiliated with various political entities. In many cases, the main goal of the representatives of such observer organizations is to obstruct the conduct of the election process in accordance with the legislation in the polling stations and to carry out provocative actions in order to present to both international partners and allies and our society as well  the election process as "illegal". In the event of an unfavorable outcome for the opposition parties, the majority of them use these "perceptions", presenting the elections as "falsified" and trying to mislead the international community and the Georgian electorate, which was clearly reflected in the destructive developments on the day of the 2020 parliamentary elections. We would like to remind you that a few days before the 2020 parliamentary elections, we provided information to the public and Western partners and exposed those local observer organizations that were directly involved with specific political entities (mainly the United National Movement, European Georgia and Strategy Builder). Of the 120 local observer organizations registered by the CEC, 32 were affiliated with opposition parties. This year, we also conducted a study of local observer organizations registered by the CEC, the results of which are presented today in relation to the local observer organizations registered as of September 8. We note here that all the evidence obtained is information available from public sources.

31 Aug, 2021

Greetings, At today’s briefing, I would like to summarize the pre-election campaign. Half of the time allocated to the election campaign has already elapsed. During this period, the Georgian Dream has nominated its candidates in all municipalities, developed a realistic election program, and is actively working to convey to the public – despite the global pandemic – the plans and goals that it will implement and achieve through the self-government bodies after winning the elections! Meetings with the population and thematic groups take place on a daily basis in accordance with COVID-related rules and regulations; problems on the level of each village and each district are registered, and ways to resolve them are found. At the same time, we can all see that the opposition is practically not engaged in election campaigning – they are not talking about the needs of the region’s residents, and they do not have anything even resembling a program. They offer the population nothing but a campaign of disinformation and loathing. Moreover, they are not making use of outdoor advertising spaces, including advertising billboards, which serves the sole purpose of enabling them to claim – after their defeat in the elections – that the campaign took place under unequal conditions, and to use the ratio of the use of advertising spaces as an argument to support this claim. The opposition is not making use of paid airtime to run political advertisements. They only use the free airtime available to electoral subjects, so as to be able to claim, after their inevitable defeat in the elections, that an unequal and noncompetitive environment was created in the run-up to the elections. And this is taking place against the backdrop of the opposition having spent more money than the Georgian Dream during the previous parliamentary elections, despite their defeat. Opposition parties have not fielded candidates in those municipalities where they would have had even the slightest chance of winning, so as to be able to claim, after their defeat in the elections, that their representatives lost in every village and town due to alleged manipulations. These political forces have not participated in the staffing of district and precinct commissions in order to be able to claim, after their defeat in the elections, that the staff comprising the commissions were biased. All these circumstances indicate that the opposition is resigned to their inevitable defeat in the elections and, rather than preparing for the 2 October elections, they are preparing for unrest on the day after the elections. Our population will most likely witness a campaign of unprecedented disinformation and loathing from the opposition, as the only political tactic of these forces entails sowing panic, manipulating human tragedies, and trying to receive political dividends in this manner. This is precisely why we are already seeing their attempts to stage serious provocations, which will most likely take even more radical forms in the month remaining before the elections, as rather than trying to persuade our citizens with their election programs and deriving democratic legitimacy from them, their method involves trying to return to power by stirring up hatred and sowing hysteria and disorder. This is the tactic that these forces have been employing for years, and this is the tactic that leads to their defeat from year to year. Despite the opposition’s goals and their destructive agenda, we will conduct our election campaign in a calm and business-like environment, talking to the population about specific cases and projects. We will hold the elections in a free and competitive environment, and we will not allow anyone to go against the will of the voters, even on the day after the elections.