Fifth attempt to stage "Maidan" in Georgia fails, says PM Kobakhidze

The ruling party in Georgia has once again thwarted attempts by the former ruling party, United National Movement (UNM), to stage a so-called “Maidan,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.

Speaking at a briefing in the office of Georgian Dream, Kobakhidze described the recent attempt as the fifth in the past four year, Caliber.Az reports via Sputnik Georgia.

“As is well known, the attempt to overthrow the government has failed. Over the past four years, we have witnessed five attempts to organise a ‘National Maidan’ in the country,” he said.

The Prime Minister stressed the need to neutralise the collective UNM as well as foreign agents to finally establish a fully healthy and stable democratic political system in Georgia. “We are accountable to more than 1.1 million voters and must completely neutralise this political force,” he said.

Kobakhidze warned that those responsible for violence against the state and law enforcement would face consequences.

“Several individuals have already been arrested, primarily the organisers of the attempted coup. I want to remind everyone that no one will go unpunished. We have far more resources to identify the guilty than we did last year or the year before,” he added. The Prime Minister emphasised that the law would be strictly enforced.

He also claimed that the plan of the so-called “deep state” to replace the UNM with the parties Lelo and Gakharia for Georgia failed in the October 4 elections.

“These two political parties are already written off. Lelo received over 180,000 votes in the previous elections last year, and now it received only half that number, despite almost no competition on the opposition front. As for Gakharia for Georgia, it went from over 160,000 votes previously to around 50,000 now. The replacement project has failed,” Kobakhidze said.

By Khagan Isayev