Speaker Papuashvili slams so-called ‘continuous protest’ as a pseudo-religious sect designed to validate itself

“The so-called “continuous protest” has been emptied of all substance, with its activities aimed solely at somehow convincing its participants of their own continued existence,” Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has said.

Papuashvili further stated that this protest group has fully consolidated into a pseudo-religious sect.

“I wanted to mark a milestone date, as this specific group maintains its own calendar and today represents a symbolic 666th day for them. From this perspective, we can once again see clearly what has long been obvious. This so-called continuous protest has lost all meaning and exists purely to validate itself. Every single activity they undertake is aimed at somehow convincing themselves that they still exist. We see this across all their manifestations,” Shalva Papuashvili said.

“The revolutionary propaganda front has been defeated,” Papuashvili continued. “Nobody believes any longer that peaceful demonstrations took place in 2024–2025; nobody believes that those detained for violent acts are innocent; and nobody believes the elections were rigged, including the opposition members themselves. You can observe opposition representatives increasingly admitting in statements that their decision to boycott Parliament was wrong. The revolutionary propaganda of this group, which has now fully formed into a sect, has collapsed entirely, leaving them preoccupied with self-soothing.”

“The second dimension I wanted to highlight is that, before our eyes, this protest group has effectively evolved into a pseudo-religious sect,” Papuashvili noted. “It possesses all the defining characteristics: its own symbols, its performed rituals, its priests and leaders, and its victims and martyrs. There is an absolute imitation of religion, rendering it a pseudo-religious entity. Given its aggressive and violent nature, what we are witnessing is precisely a fundamentalist, pseudo-religious sect. A defining trait of a sect is its total resistance to any external opinion that fails to fit its worldview. That is precisely why this sect recoils from dialogue and operates purely through dogma. Today, they have elevated the European Union to the status of dogma and declared it a Promised Land beyond criticism.”

Papuashvili emphasised that discussion and debate remain entirely unacceptable to the group leading the protests.

“The case of Gvelesiani served as an excellent example,” Papuashvili added. “The moment anyone raises even a question, let alone criticism, as Gvelesiani did in his interview, asking about the benefits and potential concerns regarding the European Union, members of this sect undergo a complete convulsion. That is because one has touched upon their shrine, an entity about which questions are strictly forbidden. Therefore, this is a serious phenomenon. I believe this group has consolidated into a fundamentalist sect, and we must treat it as such and draw our conclusions accordingly.”

“In November 2024, when this group shifted to violent demonstrations, you may recall the Prime Minister’s offer,” Papuashvili recalled. “Following the 28 November announcement, the Prime Minister and I expressed full readiness to sit down publicly with two of their representatives for an open televised debate. He even named Tina Khidasheli and a second representative at the time. In practice, those individuals were virtually hauled out of the television studio to ensure no debate could take place. A sect fears discussion because it does not function on conclusions derived from rational thought. Dogma’s vulnerability is that open debate threatens to shatter it. Today, this group exhibits every hallmark of an aggressive, fundamentalist sect. Nor should we be surprised by their aggressive manifestations, rituals, slogans, chants, and vulgarities; all of these are merely parts of the liturgy this sect performs. Nor should we be surprised that discussion and debate are entirely unacceptable to them,” Shalva Papuahvili concluded.