Irakli Kadagishvili Accuses Kelly Degnan's Statement of 'Revolutionary Scenario' in Election Process
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
In a recent interview with Radio Liberty, US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan encouraged citizens to actively participate in the upcoming elections. She expressed her optimism for improvements in the 2024 elections and emphasized that the crucial aspect is not just the USA's confidence in the outcome but rather the faith of the Georgian people that the elections are fair and reflective of their will.
Irakli Kadagishvili, a member of the parliamentary majority representing the 'Georgian Dream' party, has remarked that Degnan's statement urging Georgians to vote is saturated with politics. As per Kadagishvili, this statement is suggestive of a push towards conducting the election process in a "revolutionary scenario".
"In 2020, we observed the elections being unilaterally recognized, and concurrently, the crisis was facilitated. However, no piece of evidence, document, or testimony could substantiate claims of election falsification. It was widely acknowledged that the introduction of an electronic vote-counting system could mitigate falsification issues and ensure prompt result announcements. While this system has gained acceptance, we have already witnessed a coordinated assault on its credibility. The ambassador issued a statement, followed by one political party, and naturally, others will follow suit. This orchestration fosters the perception that even elections conducted via the electronic system could be manipulated. Essentially, this narrative implies that even banks are susceptible to robbery. This narrative seems geared to cultivate a societal inclination that lays the groundwork for transforming a lost election into a revolutionary scenario. Unfortunately, this appears to be the underlying objective of the current campaign that commenced yesterday and today. My hope is for the incoming ambassador, who is due to arrive in Georgia in September, to actively foster the development of closer and strategic relations between Georgia and the United States, as well as between the Georgian and American governments," stated Kadagishvili.
