Georgian ruling party accuses opposition of seeking to destabilise country

Georgia’s ruling party, the Georgian Dream, has accused the opposition of attempting to heighten tensions and undermine the country’s stability, amid what it described as a deteriorating regional security environment.

Speaking on broadcaster Imedi TV, the parliamentary majority leader Irakli Kirtskhalia claimed opponents were acting with the aim of “maximising tension” within Georgia.

“They have a task to create division, to endanger the country’s peace policy and to threaten the economy,” he said.

Kirtskhalia linked his remarks to broader geopolitical developments, arguing that the region remained volatile and that the risk of conflict had not diminished. 

“No one can say today that the threat of war has decreased,” he said, adding that the global situation remained “highly tense”.

In his comments, he also criticised opposition figures over recent public messaging, dismissing their actions as “performance” and questioning their motivations.

The ruling party representative further rejected calls by several members of the European People's Party in the European Parliament to impose sanctions on certain Georgian television channels, including Imedi TV, Rustavi 2 and POSTV.

He described such proposals as politically motivated and insisted that no external measures could outweigh what he characterised as the government’s commitment to maintaining peace and security.

Kirtskhalia also reiterated longstanding criticism of the former ruling party, the United National Movement, accusing it of past abuses while in power.

“EPP and their Polish representatives are a separate comedy, as we know their political past. When we talk about the Baltic states, we have clearly seen their statements towards our country, driven by security concerns and fear. No sanctions can overshadow the security and peace policy pursued by Georgian Dream. Nothing can overshadow the fact that we did not become a statistic for those politicians who sit in presidiums in various countries and, it seems, listen to their agents - ethnic Georgians - about what is happening in our country and what kind of ‘anti-democracy’ they claim exists.

Among them, they listen to the collective United National Movement, which they describe as a beacon of democracy - a force during whose time in power prisoners were abused, families were persecuted and tortured. Nearly all prisoners were left disabled, businesses and families were destroyed, and today these same people speak to us about animal protection. If they were in power today, we would have become statistics, and they would be running around as representatives of a country devastated by war,” he said.