Usupashvili: We managed victory without Ivanishvili
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, June 26
The Chairman of Parliament Davit Usupashvili made statements about the elections and some other important issues in his interview for the TV show Politikis dro on June 24.
According to him, the local elections of 2014 were the most democratic and the upcoming run-off is proof of his words.
“These are elections without a dominant political leader. Everyone had a choice to participate and the opposition got their maximum results. The trust towards elections has increased due to the democratic developments in the country,” Usupashvili said.
Concerning the low turnout, Usupashvili stated that the government has not made any efforts to use administrative resources to force citizens to vote.
“Voters provided a very important signal that they expected more from us,” Usupashvili said, and continued saying “the government placed no pressure on the Central Election Commission (CEC), it is absurd [the accusations made by the UNM]. Neither me nor the CEC chair know the exact date of the run-off now,” Usupashvili said.
Usupashvili mentioned that the Georgian Dream held its first election without Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the coalition.
“This was a very serious examination for our coalition, we managed to be trusted without Ivanishvili and his support,” he stressed.
The chairman also commented about the planned referendum regarding South Ossetia’s accession to Russia. According to him, the government is not going to have any hysterical reactions. “We must not assign a special meaning to any referendum, petition or election in the occupied territories. The Georgian Dream has made the most correct steps to solve this problem- continued its way towards Europe and offered dialogue to Russia. This is our strategy and we will not give a reason to anybody to cause any kind of aggression or argumentation,” he added.
Usupashvili stated his position about the fact developed around the members of previous government Irma Nadirashvili and Zurab Japaridze, who were detained in the airport of Baku several days ago. It was speculated by media and some officials that they might have been temporarily detained due to having illegal money. Usupashvili said that the MPs were not on a business trip. “It is a fact that there was something wrong and this problem was solved, but we must be very accurate, because this issue does not concern only these people, it includes the relations between the countries,” Usupashvili stressed.
