The leaders of the pre-election campaign for Georgian Dream in Kharagauli did not attend the meeting held in the village of Partskhnali, where opposition-minded citizens were also present. Mayor and millionaire businessman Koba Lursmanashvili, along with majoritarian Paata Kvizhinadze - who supports Russian Law in parliament - are conducting the campaign. Kvizhinadze is on the electoral list of Georgian Dream and intends to serve as a deputy for another term.
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The Partskhnali community consists of 4 villages. Opposition-minded residents learned about the meeting scheduled for October 12 from socially vulnerable individuals and representatives of the public service, who were instructed to attend.
"Lursmanashvili and Kvizhinadze hold meetings quietly among their own circle, where critical opinions cannot be heard. They meet with their supporters - people who are socially vulnerable and employed in budget organizations.
We heard about the situation by chance and decided to come. To prevent provocation, we notified the international observers; I called the representatives of the OSCE, and they arrived with translators. It seems that Lursmanashvili and Kvizhinadze learned about our mobilization and did not show up. Instead, the meeting was held by the chairperson of the Kharagauli City Council, Manana Barbakadze, and her deputy, Paata Gogoladze," said Inga Maghradze, a member of the Kharagauli City Council and head of the Lelo election headquarters, to Georgian News.
Even supporters of Georgian Dream expressed dissatisfaction, Maghradze said.
"They felt cheated; they came to listen to Lursmanashvili, who did not appear. Bakradze and his deputy traditionally made statements about peace, the European Union, family values, and what had been built and done.
We asked critical questions about anti-LGBT propaganda, especially when the district is devoid of young people. Families are divided, mothers leave their children to emigrate in order to survive. The second issue related to the Russian Law - one representative from the local newspaper Chemi Kharagauli asked whether she is an agent. A heated discussion ensued on this topic," Maghradze noted.
According to him, the only village where a critical question was raised like in Partskhnali was Khidari. A resident of that village, an employee of the National Forestry Agency, confronted Koba Lursmanashvili with questions about the apology to Russia and the use of the forest for local residents.
"They were punished and fired. High-ranking officials from the National Forestry Agency came to release him, accusing him of failing to register the trees that were cut in his area," says Inga Maghradze.
In the official statement from Georgian Dream regarding the Partskhnali meeting, the presence of opposition voters was deemed a provocation. The party claimed that despite the efforts, the meeting did not fail and that all questions were fully answered.
After the meeting, representatives of the OSCE monitoring mission and the Office of Human Rights (ODIR) met with the mayor of Kharagauli municipality and the chairman of the Kharagauli regional organization of Georgian Dream, Koba Lursmanashvili. The discussion focused on the upcoming parliamentary elections and the political processes occurring in the country.
Kharagauli municipality is home to 18 000 residents, over 7000 of whom are recipients of social benefits.
