Georgia’s ruling party official: attempts to weaken Georgia economically were aimed at making society easier to control

Irakli Kirtskhalia, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party faction in the legislative body, on Wednesday accused the opposition of serving what he described as “dirty politics”, saying that Georgian society and the ruling team would continue reminding them of their past actions and political positions.

“If anyone needs to be reminded of something, our society and our team will always remind them where they were, where they came from, and what kind of dirty politics this agent network serves. We have seen their transformation - what they were doing, how they acted regarding Russia, and how they behaved later during the Russia-Ukraine war”, Kirtskhalia said.

He further added that it was the “radicals” who claimed that Georgia was a “black hole” for bypassing international sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation, stressing that commissioners who arrived from the United Kingdom and other countries confirmed that these accusations were false and that Georgia was not violating international sanctions.

The parliamentary majority leader also said that Georgia managed to maintain a policy based on peace despite what he called propaganda and external pressure.

“We chose the policy that we chose - a policy based on peace, which directly translates into economic progress”, he added.

“We chose the policy that we chose - a policy based on peace, which directly translates into economic progress. We would have had to halt economic or non-economic relations, whether it was a visa regime or other measures, with the Russian Federation. Roughly speaking, we could not have affected even 1% of Russia’s economy, while our own economy would likely have fallen to -14% or -16% and our country would have become economically vulnerable”, he continued.

He claimed that attempts to make Georgia economically vulnerable were aimed at making the country and its society easier to control.

“They do not know Georgia’s history, they do not know the character of Georgian society, and these futile attempts have worked and continue to work against them. Every accusation they make is based solely on lies and shameless falsehoods”, the official concluded.