Mamuka Khazaradze, the leader of the Strong Georgia coalition, has announced that budget funding will be halted "immediately" once the parliament fulfills the Strong Georgia members' requests to revoke the mandates of MPs.
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“The salaries of our elected deputies have been suspended. As for the party’s funding, this comes from the budget and will be stopped immediately once our applications for the cancellation of mandates are approved. Until then, we will use this money to support those affected by the protest and others, which we are already doing. Budget money has nothing to do with the legitimacy of the parliament,” Mamuka Khazaradze wrote on Facebook.
Khazaradze also stated that “repeating the slanderous narrative” about party funding by some opposition members is nothing more than participation in the “Dream” message box and scenario.
“When you criticize another opposition party, you should clearly state where you are getting your funding! I didn’t want this controversy, but when you’re speaking through the ‘Dream’ message box, let it be openly clear who is who, whose game they're playing, or who is now interested in covering up the American assault on ‘Dream’ and confusing voters ahead of December 29!” wrote Khazaradze.
According to the Central Election Commission, of the four opposition parties that crossed the threshold in the parliamentary elections, only one - the Coalition for Change - refused to receive state funding, which exceeds one million GEL per year.
Nika Gvaramia, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, criticized other opposition parties for accepting funding, writing on social media:
“People should go on strike and not go to work, businesses should go on strike and not pay taxes, factories should close and not produce products - that’s what they said, others encouraged them, and in the end, they themselves did not refuse funding based on fabricated and falsified figures from the Kotsebi (GD members).”
According to the illegitimate Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the acceptance of funding by opposition parties indicates their recognition of the election results.
