“We are always ready for debates on any major, interesting and topical issues, including economic and social policy, foreign policy and other important matters,” a member of Lelo – Strong Georgia, Grigol Gegelia, responded to the Prime Minister’s initiative on public debates.

According to him, the current government has avoided all forms of democratic debate for the past six years and lacks substantive answers to the most pressing issues facing society.

“Their proposal on debates is comical, given that they have been avoiding debates for six years, have imprisoned numerous political opponents, are fighting political parties and are planning to abolish them. In such circumstances, talking about debates is laughable. A government that genuinely wants dialogue and constructive debate would not act toward its opponents the way this regime does,” Gegelia stated.

At the same time, Gegelia emphasized that Lelo – Strong Georgia remains open to public discussion.

“On any major and topical issue, we are always ready for debate and ready to defeat the farcical spokesmen of the Georgian Dream, who go no further than repeating propaganda narratives. That is precisely why representatives of the ruling party have been hiding from debates for six years,” he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that in order for citizens to make informed choices, they must be given the opportunity to publicly hear the positions of all political forces aspiring to govern.

“We are obliged to return the right to debate to the people and not allow informal forces and their ‘Georgian’ agents to impose their own agenda on us,” Kobakhidze said.