Georgian PM says foreign influence has pushed opposition into political deadlock

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that the upcoming local elections are focused exclusively on the development of cities and villages, but the radical opposition, trying to turn these elections into a political showdown, has been cornered under the influence of the so-called “deep state.”

According to Georgian media, Kobakhidze explained that by “deep state” and “global war party,” Georgian authorities mean certain foreign forces that wield fundamental influence over politicians and bureaucrats in the United States and the European Union, Caliber.Az reports.

He noted that in Western discourse, such claims are often dismissed as conspiracy theories.

“It is they who have driven the radical opposition into a corner; it is they who have led the radical opposition to go all in and, accordingly, have driven it, not unfortunately, but fortunately, into a corner,” Kobakhidze said.

The Prime Minister emphasised that these elections are local government elections concerned solely with issues of urban and rural development, not with wider political matters. “These are not political elections in the narrow sense of the word,” he said.

Kobakhidze also stressed that no electoral thresholds — neither 43%, nor 50%, nor 90% — have been set. “If the opposition does not understand this, it is their own problem,” he added.

He concluded that this situation shows the opposition has been cornered, and that this outcome was driven not only by the ruling Georgian Dream party but also by the “deep state.”

By Tamilla Hasanova