“Not only do I agree with Saakashvili, but I believe a more effective and comprehensive campaign is necessary, one that goes beyond outreach to the regions and unites the entire Georgian people as a single force on Rustaveli Avenue,” said Lasha Parulava, a member of the United National Movement, in response to a question about Mikheil Saakashvili’s Facebook post yesterday.

Parulava stressed that those within the opposition alliance are ready to fight.

“We can’t defeat Bidzina, so let’s censor Misha, a political prisoner who wants the struggle to continue and to be effective. That paradigm is not merely damaging; it is a formula for failure. I know for certain that within the alliance, people are ready to fight. I know for certain that every individual in this coalition is united around a single goal: the struggle against Ivanishvili’s regime that seeks to enrich itself at the Georgian people’s expense while impoverishing them in turn. We have an oligarchic system that is already transitioning into a neo-monarchical regime. It is therefore clear that everyone must recalibrate their aim. I not only agree with Mikheil Saakashvili, I would go further: we need a more effective and broader campaign, so that not only do we reach out to the regions, but the entire Georgian people stand as one on Rustaveli Avenue and defeat Ivanishvili’s regime,” Parulava declared.

When asked whether he was calling members of the alliance losers, Parulava clarified:
“You have misunderstood me. I am not calling alliance members losers. I am talking about a political paradigm that has existed for years, the idea that we cannot defeat Bidzina Ivanishvili, so perhaps Misha should keep quiet, perhaps we should ban him and censor him. That is a formula for defeat. Mikheil Saakashvili out amongst the people is a formula for victory. As far as the regime is concerned, he is effectively serving a life sentence because he is Bidzina Ivanishvili’s principal adversary. I am referring to those who subscribe to this defeatist narrative; I don’t mean Tamar Chergoleishvili, I don’t mean any specific individual, I am talking about a narrative that is a recipe for losing. If anyone wishes to lose, that is the path they will take. Many have been walking it for a long time. We want to see the end of Ivanishvili’s regime. The oligarchic system is already morphing into a neo-monarchical order, with hereditary appointments to come. The Georgian people want a free country; they want peace and prosperity, and that is utterly inconceivable under Ivanishvili.”

The backdrop to these exchanges is a post published by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on April 18, in which he wrote: “Our path cannot be the Hungarian one; it must be the Georgian one. The Georgian way is revolution. You sit in your warm television studios and wonder why people aren’t coming out onto Rustaveli.”

Eight parties within the Opposition Alliance responded to the post with a statement of their own: “No single party has the right to declare itself the sole representative of the protest movement, or to position itself as a one-party or one-man leadership.”

Saakashvili then published a further post on April 21, writing: Friends, adjust your aim. It is high time you freed yourselves from using me as an excuse, focused entirely on the matter at hand, and if things do not work out, stop blaming Misha – just work harder.”