Lelo’s Japaridze: We discussed Lelo’s plans with PACE monitoring group, October 4 was not mentioned

“We met with the Monitoring Group of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is assessing the ongoing processes in the country. We spoke about the activities of the Lelo–Strong Georgia coalition, our participation in the local elections, our future plans, and also evaluated last year’s parliamentary elections. We discussed the current developments taking place in the country,” said Badri Japaridze, one of the leaders of the Lelo party.

According to him, the recent events of October 4 were not discussed during the meeting.

“We did not talk about October 4 — they did not ask. We discussed the issues they were interested in. Of course, there are many topics I would like to raise, but they focused on the activities of our party and did not ask about others. Whether it’s October 4 or other events, they receive information from their own sources.

Naturally, we once again emphasized that a change of government in this country should occur only through elections. We believe that participation in every election is essential. We spoke about our position — not that of others — and reaffirmed that the only legitimate way to change the government is through elections. We have stood by this principle, continue to stand by it, and always will.

Our task now is to overcome the sense of nihilism among our citizens toward elections. Everyone must understand that elections are the only democratic way to bring about change. Through our participation, we have once again demonstrated that it was the right decision to take part in the municipal elections,” Japaridze said.