Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the Strong Georgia coalition, has expressed his disagreement with the conditions for unification outlined today by Giorgi Gakharia, the chairman of the For Georgia party.

According to Khazaradze, the implementation of Gakharia’s stated conditions is technically and legally unfeasible. He emphasized that he would initiate a lustration law upon entering parliament.

“We left the President’s Palace the day before yesterday with the expectation that we would present a list to the President yesterday and introduce it to the public. I attended yesterday’s meeting with this mindset,” Khazaradze stated.

He continued, “The most significant argument that essentially upended these negotiations was Tsutskiridze’s (leader of Freedom Square movement, Strong Georgia coalition partner) morning interview, which, in my opinion, is utterly unserious. If we want to change the government and transition to genuine democratic governance, we must become accustomed to coalition partners having the right to express their opinions.”

“My coalition partners, Ana Dolidze, Aleko Elisashvili, and Levan Tsutskiridze, also met with the president face-to-face, after which we collectively concluded that this alliance is essential for the country. I was discussing negotiations under this mandate. Consequently, the interview that was cited yesterday as the reason for the failed deal is nothing short of frivolous,” Khazaradze stated.

He elaborated on the technical and legal impossibilities of Gakharia’s new conditions, stating that they would effectively sideline their party and coalition from the campaign.

“Gakharia outlined entirely new conditions that are technically and legally impossible to meet, along with numerous other considerations. This effectively means that our party and coalition must withdraw from the campaign, as it is unfeasible to prepare any campaign, including numbers, lists, and technical resources, within a 30-day timeframe,” Khazaradze explained.

The coalition leader also addressed principled issues, including the events of June 20 and the Anaklia project. He stressed that party agreements do not negate the need to address matters of significant public interest. Khazaradze reiterated his stance on the Anaklia project, emphasizing the importance of Western rather than Chinese investment as a crucial geopolitical consideration.

Regarding the composition of the electoral list, Khazaradze revealed his initial willingness to step aside in favour of younger candidates but later offered to remain on the list as a compromise.

“It was suggested that, given our history of conflict, it might be better for us not to be included on the list and to instead focus on supporting the youth. However, during yesterday’s meeting, I realized that he might believe this would lead to his withdrawal from politics. This is not the case, and I told him that as a compromise, I am willing to amend this clause. I reaffirmed yesterday that if he wishes to be on the list, I will stand by him.

A crucial point raised was that this union would not create a government for the Georgian Dream but would instead establish its own government. This union creates the synergy necessary for forming a government, while other issues can be resolved based on the election results. He proposed a formulation that not only aligns with logical reasoning but, in my opinion, resembles a covert operation. It effectively undermined what we had been building together.

Today, we are prepared to sign the agreement reached with the president, but I sense that this may not come to fruition. If Tsutskiridze was a problem yesterday, some other platform may likely emerge as an issue tomorrow. We will continue our campaign, doing everything in our power to expel the Russian government from Georgia,” Khazaradze stated.

Looking ahead, Khazaradze declared his intention to continue the election campaign, emphasizing their commitment to ousting the “Russian government” from Georgia.

“One of our first actions upon entering parliament will be to introduce the Lustration Law, ensuring that individuals with compromised backgrounds cannot participate in politics or hold power in the public sphere. This reform will set our country on the path to significant victory,” the coalition leader concluded.

Giorgi Gakharia held a briefing today to outline the conditions for continuing negotiations with Mamuka Khazaradze.

According to Gakharia, these conditions are as follows: “1. A neutral political platform, which we believe is safe and fair for all; 2. A fair principle of parity in decision-making; 3. The principle of rejecting any coalition with both the Georgian Dream (GD) and the United National Movement (UNM) parties.”