Gakharia Calls Mdinaradze's Statement "Lunacy," Claims Ivanishvili Wrote the Text

As Gakharia stated, Mdinaradze's statement was written by Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is "driven by fear."

"Why? For a simple reason - he knows very well that when we are discussing serious matters now, in the run-up to the elections, and you demand an apology from your people for reasons unknown, you set the stage for your Prime Minister to accuse your own country of starting a war. In doing so, he delivers a heavy blow, undermining the policy of non-recognition, which directly threatens the country's sovereignty. When, due to your financial interests, you place the highest officials of the state - the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the Parliament, ministers - in a line to serve your purposes, and use the state to resolve your personal financial disputes, there are very serious signs of betrayal of the country's national interests.

I am certain that Bidzina Ivanishvili will soon have to provide clarifications, because, believe me, these clarifications will become much more necessary for him. Otherwise, there will be no clarifications, only other actions, because these questions exist within society. How can you demand an apology from your country and its citizens who have suffered ethnic cleansing? How can you blame your state for starting a war when you know that you are the reason the policy of non-recognition is at great risk? You destroyed normal relations with the West. This is a chain of events, and after that, one of your slaves, a clown, writes a statement and comes forward.

They are entering a very dangerous territory. I'm beginning to wonder if the time has come to create a parliamentary commission after the elections, which will investigate all these issues. I am sure that the public will learn a lot of interesting information through this commission, but only after the elections, because I am not naive enough to exploit such topics for pre-election interests. Even without that, believe me, the hysteria Georgian Dream is suffering from clearly indicates our growing support and their rapidly declining support," Gakharia said.

Mamuka Mdinaradze held a briefing today, where he claimed that Giorgi Gakharia and the leader of the Strong Georgia coalition, Mamuka Khazaradze, "pose a much greater danger to Georgian society today than the old wing of the National Movement, which is already well known to everyone."

Mdinaradze listed instances where Gakharia, while in power, "deliberately damaged the government's image in accordance with instructions received from outside the country." These included special operations in nightclubs, Pankisi, and Mestia, as well as the "Chorchana incident" and the raid on the June 20 rally. "One of Gakharia's most treacherous actions is the Chorchana incident. He set up a police checkpoint near the occupied territory without consulting any team member or relevant authorities, acting in accordance with instructions from his handlers at the dividing line. ... The main goal of this provocation was to artificially incite a new armed confrontation, which could have easily escalated into a large-scale war," Mdinaradze said, adding that "we can consider this action a mini-model of the provocation he will definitely attempt if he faces trouble with the authorities."