“We must create 200,000 new jobs in Tskaltubo, make it a world-class destination, and liberate Georgia,” declared Grigol Gegelia, a member of Lelo-Strong Georgia.

According to him, Georgian Dream is a political force promoting broken, unfulfilled dreams, a ruined economy and anti-Georgian ideology.

“We find ourselves in a city of unfulfilled dreams and destroyed myths, Tskaltubo. Today, this city should be one of our calling cards, but sadly, it represents collapsed economics, unemployment, hopelessness, poverty and emigration. This should be a city that attracts Georgia and the world, but regrettably, it’s a city people abandon.

Over the past 13 years, Tskaltubo’s population has declined by 21,000. This should be a city employing tens of thousands, but sadly, it has 8,000 socially vulnerable residents. A city that should provide jobs to the Imereti region and all of western Georgia, the one that should be an economic hub, cannot employ its own citizens.

In 2015, a decade ago, the Georgian Dream promised to build a five-star hotel. Yet ten years later, we still see these ‘dreams’ ruins. This wraps up the fraud, incompetence and anti-Georgian sentiment that the Georgian Dream government embody.

Six years ago, this country’s chief swindler, Bidzina Ivanishvili, claimed he would dedicate personal resources and attention to Tskaltubo’s economic and tourist rehabilitation. Six years on, he hasn’t built a single hotel, employed a single person, or advanced a single project.

This demonstrates that Georgian Dream is a political force promoting broken, unfulfilled dreams, ruined economics and anti-Georgian ideology. That’s precisely why we must all confront them through our struggle, reclaim Tskaltubo, Imereti, all of Georgia.

We must create 200,000 new jobs here, a world-class destination, and liberate Georgia. We must create the foundation of a new, strong Georgian state. A foundation where Georgians can prosper, earn adequate incomes, and needn’t be forced into emigration. We must create a place where people feel like full-fledged citizens.

Therefore, I call upon all Imeretians and Georgians to fight to the end, to liberate Tskaltubo and create a new employment hub. People should come here from across the world, making it one of our country’s most important cultural, tourist and social centres. We must grow and double Imeretian, western Georgian and Georgian economies, ultimately restoring the Georgian state and returning it to its proper European path,” Gegelia stated.