Georgian opposition treats Garibashvili's words about early elections as ultimatum

By its categorical refusal to discuss the opponents' key demands, the ruling party disrupts the dialogue with the opposition, the "Lelo for Georgia" Party said after the words of Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister, that the country's authorities do not intend holding early parliamentary elections.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 29, the Georgian Premier, Irakli Garibashvili, at a meeting with Christian Danielson, the envoy of the President of the European Council, who arrived in Georgia, assured that the government was ready to compromise with the opposition in order to resolve the political crisis in the country.

After meeting Mr Danielson, Irakli Garibashvili announced that the country's authorities did not intend to hold early elections. "There will be no early elections in the country. We have finished talking about this. [...] The issue of early elections is closed; there are no political prisoners in Georgia," the "Georgia Online" quoted the Premier as stating on March 29.

The Premier's statement was criticized by Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the oppositional "Lelo for Georgia" Party. According to his story, when the leaders of the "Georgian Dream" Party declare that the issue of early elections is not even considered, "this is the ultimatum that drives the negotiation process to a dead end," the "InterPressNews" reported in the evening on March 29.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 30, 2021 at 09:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.