Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday echoed the Georgian President’s recent move to pardon Mtavari TV founder Nika Gvaramia.

The Speaker believes “the latest Western-brokered pardon does not give us much hope for solving the polarization problem,” adding that “the previous two Western-brokered cases of pardon by President Zourabichvili, those concerning convicted criminals Giorgi Ugulava and Giorgi Rurua, did very little, if anything, for alleviating political polarization and mitigating the opposition’s radical ways.”

“President Zourabichvili, without giving explanation, pardoned Nika Gvaramia, convicted for legally proven crimes. He has now spent only a fraction of his time in prison. There have been some positive comments, welcoming the decision, from some Western politicians and diplomats. These, along with previous statements in support of Gvaramia, seem to be in unison with the President’s decision as well as tell the direction of pressure of which the President has recently complained.

The pardon creates an expectation of better chances for political depolarization. Thus far, Gvaramia’s imprisonment was named as a reason for polarization, even if, in reality, it was a mere pretext for the opposition to radicalize.

Now, with the pardon and its approval by some of our foreign partners, the ball is on their side who publicly linked depolarization with Gvaramia’s pardon. Real efforts are expected from those who have real leverage to convince the opposition to ditch their radical agenda and work with the Government towards improving prospects of European integration,” the Speaker tweeted.

President Zourabichvili, without giving explanation, pardoned Nika Gvaramia, convicted for legally proven crimes. He has now spent only a fraction of his time in prison. There have been some positive comments, welcoming the decision, from some Western politicians and diplomats.…

— Shalva Papuashvili 🇬🇪 (@shpapuashvili) June 23, 2023