UNM’s Pavlenishvili: Ivanishvili regime is the sole entity taking directives from external forces; they have been instructed to ban NGOs and opposition

“The only entity taking directives from external forces is the Ivanishvili regime. They received directives to halt the construction of the Anaklia Port, to arrest Mikheil Saakashvili and other leaders, and to suspend European integration,” declared Irakli Pavlenishvili, Chairman of the Interim Governing Council of the United National Movement (UNM).

Pavlenishvili was asked to respond to a statement made by parliamentary majority member Levan Machavariani, who claimed: “The overwhelming majority of opposition parties in our country constitute an agent network subservient to foreign forces, which we refer to as the ‘Collective National Movement’. They are managed through a single vertical command structure.”

“Talking about others is always an attempt to project one’s own afflictions onto somebody else. What is taking place here is a fight for democracy, a fight to ensure the survival of Georgia’s opposition spectrum, free media, and civil society. This regime must be changed, but when they talk about a struggle being underway, the struggle is actually for our survival and to ultimately defeat this Russian regime. Therefore, if anyone in this struggle has received directives, it is Ivanishvili who has been instructed to outlaw every critically thinking individual, including representatives of non-governmental organisations and the opposition,” stated Irakli Pavlenishvili.