Federalists’ Chergoleishvili: Stop crediting Garibashvili for the people’s achievements and sifting through Ivanishvili’s court intrigue

“The crisis within Ivanishvili’s court was created not by Garibashvili, but by the public reaction to Ivanishvili’s actions and the sanctions levied in support of the Georgian people; Garibashvili had nothing to do with it,” Tamar Chergoleishvili, leader of the Federalists party, wrote on social media.

According to Chergoleishvili, Garibashvili merely acted within the environment forged by the unbroken resistance of the Georgian people, an environment that Ivanishvili subsequently interpreted as treason.

“It is sheer nonsense to suggest that Garibashvili created some crisis; the Georgian people created the preconditions that made the collapse of the status quo inevitable, and Garibashvili is simply a byproduct of that collapse.

It is not the business of opposition parties or opposition politicians to wallow in the foul-smelling quagmire of tabloid journalism, parsing the court intrigues of Ivanishvili and the mutual recriminations or calumnies of his court jesters.

The opposition’s task is to present an alternative agenda to the citizens of Georgia. That is precisely what we, the Federalists, are doing:

1. We promise Georgian society the rule of law and an independent, jury-based judicial system;
2. We promise the Georgian state a robust military and a comprehensive reserve system;
3. We promise the regions an end to central government overreach and the establishment of powerful local self-governance;
4. We promise internally displaced persons that Russia’s crimes in Georgia will be formally recognised as genocide, that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, and that we will exploit a weakened Russia to ensure their return to their homes;
5. We promise Georgian citizens security, reforms guaranteeing quality education and healthcare, and a harm-reduction drug policy.

This is what you ought to be doing instead of sifting through the foul-smelling gossip of Garibashvili, Dito Samkharadze, and Asaval-Dasavali; assuming you are capable of it, of course, because this is real politics. If you are incapable, go home; you will have to eventually anyway. In short, stop attributing the Georgian people’s achievements to Garibashvili! Stop picking through the ashes of Ivanishvili’s court intrigues! (Or don’t stop, and we will keep calling you out; it makes no difference to us),” Chergoleishvili wrote.