Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson and leader of the Burjanadze-Democrats election bloc, accused the government of black-PR campaign to smear her.
On October 8 Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia, the spokesperson of the presidential-backed election bloc For New Georgia, accused the Burjanadze-Democrats election bloc, led by Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, of having ties with the Russian secret services.
Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia said on October 9 that she submitted all the evidence confirming the ties between Burjanadze and the Russian secret services to the Security Ministry of Georgia.
“As the Parliamentary Chairperson, I demand the Security Minister [Valeri Khaburdzania] to publicize all these evidence, if they really exist, which confirm that I cooperate with the Russian secret services. I give him 3 days to submit a conclusion, whether Nino Burjanadze is a spy of a foreign country’s secret services. If he [Security Minister] fails to do so, I will raise the issue of responsibility of the Security Ministry leadership,” Burjanadze said at the news briefing.
She also said that the authorities try to aim at moving society’s attention from the upcoming elections and numerous irregularities that might lead to ballot fraud.
In the interview to the Rustavi 2 TV channel, Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council Tedo Japaridze said today that he has no information confirming Nino Burjanadze’s cooperation with Russia’s secret services. He urged Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia to present any if she had.
The Security Council Secretary also called on the politicians to refrain from making the statements that might lead to further tension in the Georgian-Russian relationship.