MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili: Raw footage proves For Georgia’s Giga Parulava ignited parliamentary brawl

“Raw footage exists proving that Giga Parulava started the fight. He was the first to use physical force; he swung at Kheladze and physically assaulted him,” stated MP Tengiz Sharmanashvili, a member of the parliamentary majority, when commenting on the physical altercation that took place in the Parliament of Georgia a few days ago.

According to him, it is unacceptable when such incidents occur inside parliament.

“Afterwards, some took part in the brawl, while others tried to break it up, but the fact remains that Parulava was the instigator of this provocation, having struck Kheladze. Before that, there had been no physical confrontation. Assess the rest, however you wish.

Forgive my bluntness, but when things escalate to insulting someone’s mother and a fight breaks out, it becomes incredibly difficult to control anything. We are Georgians, after all, we haven’t completely lost our identity, have we? The point is, Parulava used force first. Now, was someone supposed to take that lying down? Once hit, were they supposed to tolerate insults to their mother and everything else? That is pure armchair theorising. In such a tense environment, once a fight erupts and someone resorts to force, the situation naturally spins out of control for a moment.

Gorduladze himself admitted on television that this is something generally unacceptable, and he has apologised to the public. He didn’t apologise to Parulava, mind you, but to the public, for finding himself in such a situation and for being involved in it. Of course, this can never be condoned. On the other hand, to report on this one-sidedly and suggest it is normal that when someone strikes you and insults your mother, you are obligated to stay quiet and do nothing; well, that would be a bizarre interpretation of reality,” Sharmanashvili declared.