Georgia must get rid of former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s opposition party, the United National Movement, just as Germany did after 1945 with representatives of Adolf Hitler’s party, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
“The fact that the National Movement has broken through the barrier is of course a pity, but if Hitler’s party had remained in Germany after 1945, it would also have gained 15-20%… In the end, how the Germans got rid of this disgrace in their time is very easy and strict, we must also save Georgia, the collective “National Movement” from this disgrace.” – the Prime Minister said on Imedi television station.
Previously, Georgia’s ruling party has repeatedly said that if it wins a constitutional majority following the autumn parliamentary elections, former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement party will be declared unconstitutional and parliamentary mandates of MPs will be revoked. Prime Minister Kobakhidze said that the United National Movement party also indirectly includes other opposition parties.
In late July, jailed former Georgian President Saakashvili called on his supporters to be prepared for street protests following Georgia’s autumn parliamentary elections. The former Georgian leader himself is currently in Tbilisi’s Vivamed clinic.
Saakashvili was arrested in Georgia on 1 October 2021; he is involved in several criminal cases. Politician convicted in absentia for murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani and about hitting a deputy Valeria Gelashvili. In the first case, Saakashvili was sentenced to three years in prison, in the second – to six. In addition, he is involved in the case of the dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, the pogrom of the Imedi television company, embezzlement of state budget funds and illegal border crossings, cases that are still being examined by the courts. . Former Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili He said that Saakashvili would remain in prison for a long time and would serve his entire sentence.
On August 2, the Tbilisi City Court opted for arrest as a preventive measure for Saakashvili in the case of illegal border crossing. This means that even if the President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili If Saakashvili is pardoned in other cases, he will not be released.
