Parliament Speaker, Defence Minister slam Lelo opposition’s “radical campaign” against ruling party founder
Chikovani said the claims by the Lelo leader, which he called "encouragement for repressions", were “reminiscent of tactics” employed by the previous United National Movement Government. Photo: Defence Ministry press office
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Defence Minister Irakli Chikovani on Thursday criticised what they described as a "radical agenda" of the Lelo opposition party, alleging the campaign aimed to target Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party who recently returned to domestic politics as the party’s Honorary Chair.
The criticism followed recent statements made by Mamuka Khazaradze, the founder of the Lelo party, and release of social media banners depicting Ivanishvili with slogans suggesting his "return to Russia" following the upcoming October general elections, in reference to his business activities in the country in the 1990s.
Chikovani said the claims, which he called "encouragement for repressions", were “reminiscent of tactics” employed by the previous United National Movement Government, and claimed the alignment of Lelo with UNM.
He went on to allege “certain domestic opposition groups” shared “sentiments” with UNM, “adopting its approach” to governance and seeking to create a "negative political landscape".
Papuashvili, in his press comments, criticised Khazaradze for “spearheading a campaign of threats against Ivanishvili personally", particularly through visual representations in social media posts.
He claimed it was "almost comical” when a “party with a mere two percent public approval rating talks about coming to power", in reference to Lelo figures in polling.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday was elected the honorary Chair of the GD party at the congress meeting of the ruling party.
The Tbilisi Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld last year’s verdict of the Tbilisi City Court against Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, the founders of TBC Bank and Lelo opposition party, confirming their fraud in a case dating back to 2008.
Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili has told Entrepreneur online magazine that he will donate 90 per cent of his material assets worth 1.5 billion USD, except those with credit or other obligations, to the Cartu Charity Foundation. He stated that the purpose of the assets ‘cannot be changed’ in the process of management or alienation, because most of them ‘are not ordinary business projects’ but projects which are targeted for the development of individual branches, or even entire regions, and are designed to ensure improvements in economic, tourism and other fields.
One of Georgia’s top bankers, Mamuka Khazaradze, who has recently been charged in a high-profile money laundering case, has officially launched a new civic movement in Georgia’s coastal town of Anaklia, located near the Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia.
Irakli Garibashvili, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday announced he would launch holding meetings in the country’s regions starting next month, in the run-up to the general elections set for October.
Irakli Garibashvili, the new Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party and the former Prime Minister of Georgia, on Thursday said his party’s goal was to secure a constitutional majority in the October general elections, while also condemning “anti-state” and “criminal activities” of President Salome Zourabichvili and the founder of the Lelo opposition party Mamuka Khazaradze.