Georgia’s ruling party brands ex-president Zourabishvili a "traitor" Before Helsinki Commission hearing

Georgia’s ruling party has accused former President Salome Zourabishvili and ex-Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli of “betraying the homeland” ahead of a planned appearance before the US Helsinki Commission.

The two have been invited to testify on September 10 at a hearing titled “Georgia’s Anti-American Path”, which will examine what the commission describes as the country’s authoritarian turn and its implications for US interests in the Caucasus, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of Georgia’s Parliament, told journalists that Zourabishvili and Khidasheli were preparing to commit “an act of treason live on air”.

He accused Zourabishvili of being “on the payroll of foreigners” through the McCain Institute, while alleging that Khidasheli, now head of the Civil Idea NGO, was promoting anti-China narratives funded by “the Taiwanese separatist regime”.

Vice-Speaker Giorgi Volski echoed the remarks, saying: “What Salome Zourabishvili and Tina Khidasheli are doing is disrespectful to our homeland and political principles – it is outright betrayal of the country.”

Levan Makhashvili, an MP from Georgian Dream and chair of the parliamentary committee on European integration, dismissed the upcoming hearing as a “circus”, accusing its chair, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson, of backing revolutionary scenarios in Georgia.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze went further, alleging links between the US “Deep State” and both the Helsinki Commission leadership and the two Georgian invitees. “It is absurd – like a fox calling its tail as a witness,” he said.

For its part, the Helsinki Commission said the session would explore the “global consequences of Georgia’s shift towards authoritarianism” and the weakening of democratic institutions under Georgian Dream.

It accused the government of deepening ties with Russia and China, blocking US business interests and undermining democratic procedures.

Alongside Zourabishvili and Khidasheli, Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, is also scheduled to give evidence.

By Aghakazim Guliyev