Gia Tsagareishvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday hit back at the Chair of the United National Movement opposition party, Nika Melia, for the latter’s critical comments on GD on Thursday that accused the party of “collaborationism with the enemy” and called ruling party representatives “cannons” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Dismissing the allegations, Tsagareishvili raised counter accusations against Melia, accusing the opposition politician of “anti-state activities” and reminding him of his criminal records.
The Chair of the main opposition party in Georgia has been convicted twice. Is there any precedent in any civilised country for an individual who has been convicted twice and is running a party?”, Tsagareishvili asked.
In his social media post, Melia had accused the Government and GD founder Bidzina Ivanishvili of “deliberate attacks” against the United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan “in an attempt to damage the US-Georgia strategic partnership and harm the country’s European integration process to benefit Russian goals”.
Elected as the Chair of the UNM in December 2020, Melia was convicted for his refusal to post a bail last year in a court case over the dispersal of the June 2019 opposition rally, and was banned from taking public office for two years and three months following the high-profile case of Cartu Bank in 2019, which involved Ivanishvili.