Former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili said the incumbent president’s impeachment seeks to “cover up the real issues” for potential protests. “The impeachment will fail, Salome will take the ticket, go to Europe and she will be credited with granting the candidate status [to Georgia].”

In his Facebook post, Saakashvili went on to say that “the European Union is really determined to grant the status with certain reservations.”

“This will be attributed to Salome, removing Ivanishvili’s responsibility in the eyes of the Russians. The oligarch recognises that the “Dream” (governing team) will not be able to win a landslide in the upcoming elections, and he sees a new project centred on Salome as the best choice for isolating the major force associated with me.

We have to do our job. I fully support the forthcoming rally. We need to be everywhere, to be many and active! “The number of people and their courage are critical,” Saakashvili stated.