“Peaceful demonstration is a constitutionally protected right, and everyone must respect this right. Both processes are important to us, public as well as electoral activity,” Salome Samadashvili, a member of the Lelo party, declared on one of the media programmes.

According to Samadashvili, she has no information about what is planned regarding the October 4 rally and what kind of demonstration it will be.

“I always support public protest because it is an important component for putting pressure on Ivanishvili. As regards the October 4 rally, I don’t know much about this demonstration. The organisers of this rally should be informed about what is planned. I am not aware of the nature of the rally or how it will proceed, so I cannot provide any further details.

One thing I know is that peaceful demonstration is a constitutionally protected right, and everyone must respect this right. Both processes are important to us, public as well as electoral activity. We entered this struggle because we want a change of government.

It’s a false dilemma invented by propagandists. Boycotting is their right, but we must expose the false dilemma as if by participating in elections we are saying that Ivanishvili’s government should be cemented in place. On the contrary, we are saying that if we don’t participate in elections, what will happen is what has happened in every country where the opposition boycotted elections: the government firmly cemented its position.

Because we want a change of government, new parliamentary elections, and the end of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s regime, we have entered the race. They themselves have no answer to the question of what will happen on October 4. I don’t know who the organiser is, nor do I know who will present the plan to the public. We would always participate in protests,” declared Salome Samadashvili.

As Samadashvili noted, the opposition’s mistake was the absence of a united front and low activity in Tbilisi.

“Supporters of election boycotts say they are strong in their positions. If you are strong in your own positions, go and mind your own business. It is incomprehensible why they are spending so many resources on us.

We consider it a mistake that there was no united front. We consider it a mistake that there was low activity in Tbilisi. Some people believe that elections are their civic right. Regardless of what the electoral environment is like, they do not want Bidzina Ivanishvili to take away their right to participate in elections. Such people might also want to attend demonstrations,” declared Samadashvili.