MP Zarkua: Just as Nika Gvaramia can never become Merab Kostava, Ana Tsitlidze can never be a politician without her paramount leader

“The radical opposition is undergoing a total self-exposure; these individuals are stateless, rootless, and completely void of values,” declared MP Irakli Zarkua, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Diaspora and Caucasus Issues, when commenting on the ongoing rift within the opposition, specifically the exchange of recriminations between UNM’s Ana Tsitlidze and Ahali’s Nika Gvaramia.

Zarkua emphasised that the fewer radicals remaining in the country, the more Georgia stands to gain.

“They are currently vying to elevate themselves in the eyes of their foreign patrons and secure the title of the primary opposition force. Whatever boundaries existed between them have now completely collapsed. They have devolved into launching personal insults.

Of all people, what right does Gvaramia have to lecture anyone? He was an architect of the United National Movement’s reign of evil, serving as Prosecutor General or senior prosecutor during an era when people were being maimed and killed. And now he takes cheap shots at Tsitlidze? The fewer radicals we have, the better off Georgia will be.

Just as Nika Gvaramia can never become Merab Kostava, Ana Tsitlidze can never emerge as a real politician without her paramount leader. They are a strange clique bound to maintain loyalty to a loser-leader. They do not give a damn about Georgia’s national interests. Their sole objective, while awaiting fresh instructions, is to cement their image as the lead radical opposition force. Let us be frank, neither Gvaramia nor Tsitlidze can command the votes of their own family members,” Irakli Zarkua stated.