2020-06-26

Throughout the entire day, there may even have been a few emotional moments but I would like to tell you sincerely that for the most part, I - and not just me but the representatives of our team as well - all of us were motivated to speak by sorrow. People were surprised about my emotional remark, asking why I called them rabbits, at a time when they are not present here, at this moment. It is hard to admit and to comprehend that today, at a time when there is a real crisis in the country, when the country is fighting a pandemic, when there is an economic crisis and our citizens are facing truly difficult times, and we are discussing important topics such as the security of the country, human rights, education, the economy, not a single question concerned the reporting period. To reiterate once again: We came here, before this Parliament, when we presented the governmental plan. This is our duty and we respect the Parliament, our voters, citizens, but not a single question concerned the most important issues for the country today. These are no mere lofty words, these are the daily lives of our citizens who are facing financial difficulties, who have lost their jobs, many have had their family's income decrease, many have loans - these are the topics that we came here to discuss and none of the questions concerning the reporting period have been asked about this. I think this is simply tragic, not to mention anything else. What took place instead of this? Instead of this we had Gavrilov, remembering the 20 June, Khorava, and Kerzaia tragedies. Of course, all of this is a part of our lives and every single citizen of Georgia, members of the opposition or the ruling team, can have their own, subjective or objective assessments; fortunately, we live in a free country. Today, however, our agenda should have been different and the most tragic thing, the thing that is morally incomprehensible to me, is how a tragedy that took place in the family of a particular citizen can become the subject of political speculation. This might not be completely appropriate to say but for me, personally, today, at a time when the country is living under an economic crisis, when our citizens are becoming infected on a daily basis, when international organizations such as the World Health Organization warn us that if the country, taken separately, were to open like other countries, there is a risk of an explosion of the epidemic, which would lead us directly to an economic crisis - this, after all, affects every person and when, unfortunately, people act in this manner against this background, it can be tantamount to desertion. I cannot think of any other explanation. I understand that escaping from real problems is easy when you can speculate about other people's tragedies in the hall of the Parliament in order to achieve political goals; I understand this, this is easy. But behind this lies the fate of our people, our political culture - basic moral values, to put politics aside for a minute.

Now, I would like to address an issue that is also important for me. Today, one of our colleagues called us out, saying that the Defense Authorization Act is being considered in the Senate, adding that it will include such an entry that we will see what is what. I have the impression that some members of our opposition think that it is their exclusive right to translate the language used by our strategic partner and to then use this for the purpose of speculation within the Georgian public. Of course, the implementation of the March 8 Agreement is of extreme importance for the further democratization of our country and the authorities will fulfill this agreement. Of course, the Parliament of Georgia will vote on Monday and the country will have an electoral system that leads us in the direction of the proportional electoral system. Of course, the path leading to this decision was quite difficult. Of course, the proportional system was a dream of Georgian politics and no one was able to achieve that dream. No matter what they might say, what assessments might be made, the electoral system in this country will change as a result of this parliamentary vote and this is our duty, just as it is our duty to take into account all the recommendations that came from ODIHR, and these recommendations will be accepted and implemented further. Of course, it is the responsibility of the authorities and the government to hold democratic, transparent elections of the highest standard and we understand this very well. We accept these commitments. The Georgian Government is committed to continue all the reforms in the country that were initiated to ensure that the process of the further democratization of the country does not stop and all of this is discussed in the Authorization Act as well, of course, with the biggest part thereof receiving a positive assessment there as well. But no, through disinformation, fake news, and simulated realities, people have turned the issue of a specific character from a specific legal case (in this instance, this refers to the case of Mr. Rurua) into the subject of a political dispute and a political discussion on an international level, at a time when framing the issue in these terms is tragic for the Georgian public and every citizen of Georgia. After all, our public has a memory, our public remembers what was happening in the 90s; some of our regions remember what took place. We have endured difficult times in the 90s and when we, each and every one of us, our ordinary citizens, see that the criminal case involving a specific person is becoming a subject of political discussion with the strategic partner, of course, the citizen of Georgia feels insulted, along with everything else. Of course, we must all understand that these fake news, this simulated reality, these artificially created stories form the basis for something that is unimaginable to ordinary Georgian citizens to become the subject of political discussion. However, this is not the main issue. The main issue in all of this is that the gentlemen, due to their ego and the desire to seize power, completely disregard the fact that they are causing the relations between Georgia, our homeland, and its strategic partner to come under question, harming it solely and exclusively in order to satisfy their selfish interests. This is evil, and I would have applauded some people were they present here today, I would have told them - gentlemen, you are the champions in terms of being enemies of the country and committing evil deeds against the country.

Unfortunately, we must be even more proactive. We must present our truth, the objective reality more effectively, and we will do this. We must show everyone, in an objective manner, what the March 8 Agreement means for the country, how we will implement this agreement, how we will hold democratic, transparent elections of a high standard in the country. But I have the highest hopes for the citizens of Georgia. I would like to stress that we must do everything to ensure that the Parliament of the next convocation no longer contains enemies of the country, to say nothing of quality. I am placing my hopes on our citizens; I am certain that our only ally - Georgian man, who is the fairest and most clear-sighted - is wise; he observes for a long time but in the end, he will make the corresponding, right decisions.

Press Service of the Government Administration