Georgian parliament speaker accuses president of inciting bloodshed

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has condemned President Salome Zourabichvili, accusing her of threatening the country with bloodshed and chaos.

Speaking to reporters, Papuashvili expressed concern over remarks made by Zourabichvili, who suggested that the only peaceful path for Georgia was through new elections, implying that failure to hold new elections could lead to violence, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

Papuashvili described the president’s comments as unprecedented, stating that for the first time in Georgia’s independent history, the sitting president had directly threatened the population with bloodshed if they did not abandon the result of the October 26 elections. He further accused Zourabichvili of undermining state institutions and creating a "shameful mess" in the country.

The Speaker referred to Zourabichvili’s tenure, noting that she had previously been involved in an impeachment process, but he emphasized that her most significant political and moral failure was refusing to acknowledge the will of the people as expressed in the elections. He suggested that Zourabichvili had attempted to impose an election result that the population had rejected.

Papuashvili also criticized the president for what he saw as her alignment with foreign forces, accusing her of following a script similar to that of her predecessors who had undermined Georgia’s sovereignty. He referenced the 2021 local elections, alleging that former President Mikheil Saakashvili, had illegally entered the country with the help of foreign intelligence to manipulate the electoral process.

In his statement, Papuashvili emphasized that Zourabichvili’s refusal to accept the election results, which reflected the will of over two million Georgian citizens, was a betrayal of the democratic process. He further accused her of seeking foreign support to encourage unconstitutional actions and undermine Georgia’s stability.

Despite these tensions, Papuashvili stressed that the Georgian government has the necessary means to counter what he described as the "dark intentions of hostile forces." He affirmed that the Georgian people continue to support the government, showing their awareness of the political situation by distancing themselves from the radical opposition, which he claimed had only a few hundred supporters left.

By Vafa Guliyeva