“Georgian Dream is trying to convince us that it has serious competitors in the elections and needs to pressure them, convincing target competitors of their correct decision and that they have a serious chance of winning the mayoral elections – this belief is necessary so that participation doesn’t lose its meaning,” Georgia’s former President Salome Zourabichvili wrote on social media.

According to her, “in reality the regime fears not party participation, but only society; it needs an imitation of participation to block the path for possible future formation of a third force, to clear the political ground where forces other than National Movement and  Georgian Dream will disappear.”

“‘In the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s statement we read: ‘Every citizen of Georgia has the right to know whether there was neglect of legal requirements, especially when the issue concerns a person of high public interest.’ This statement was made regarding the launch of monitoring of Mamuka Khazaradze asset declaration.

But why does not each citizen have the right to know about hundreds of millions in corruption schemes by high officials, about the grounds for their arrest or release. Then we will believe in this bureau’s and Mr. Rajden’s impartiality. Until then, it is crystal clear that this monitoring serves only and exclusively political retribution.

This does not mean that the regime fights Khazaradze (or even Gakharia with other accusations) because they participate in elections. It’s the opposite: the ruling party needs this persecution to convince us that the regime is very troubled and afraid of these two parties’ competition.

The same purpose is served by the case initiated against Aleko Elisashvili – with the help of Russia’s prosecutor’s office…,” Zourabichvili noted.