Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has condemned ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili’s remarks of May 19, in which he called on the opposition activists to “be on the offensive” during the by-elections.
Saakashvili, whose wife – Sandra Roelofs, is a mayoral candidate in Zugdidi, published a video address earlier today, appealing to his supporters to free themselves from GD-imposed “constraints.”
“The Georgian Dream members claim UNM wants to destabilize the situation… Ivanishvili’s stooges want to bully you, to make you wary of “triggering [supposed] provocations”… we need to be on the offensive and only on the offensive,” he noted.
“Do not be afraid of anything… do not cede anything to them; if they dare [to rig elections], it will have consequences; this is not November 2018 – this time, we won’t step aside and we won’t wait for the conclusions of international organizations,” he added.
In a Facebook post published two hours before the end of voting, President Zurabishvili said “such an outright unconstitutional and anti-state declaration from a previous president forces me to express my bewilderment and outright disapproval.”
“I have refrained up to now, due to my non partisan status, from any comments or interference in the electoral process. The same is required from any former President whether or not in function, whether in or outside the country,” Zurabishvili added.
“Calling for disorder and unrest is an offense to the state, a crime when your territory is occupied!,” she also noted.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)