For the first time in the history of Georgia, a strategic partner imposes sanctions on government officials. The party at the head of the country, instead of talking about the dangers brought by the Russian law initiated by them and trying to fix it, talk to us with the text of the image clip and prove to us that “their Georgia is here”. Since the morning, we have seen many attempts to make us believe that they are not worried at all about the US visa restrictions, and if they are not in America, they will take selfies in Kazbegi and travel here.
Georgian Dream is actively spreading the conspiracy theory, as if they did not give up the country’s interests and that is why they received sanctions, which is a lie – neither the participants of the protest in Georgia nor the USA demanded to give up the country’s interests. On the contrary, it calls Georgian Dream to act in favor of all countries. Moreover, when announcing the sanctions, the statement of the US Secretary of State emphasized that the visa restrictions apply to “those who undermine Georgia’s democracy”.
Irma Zavradashvili and Dimitri Khundadze were among the first whose comments were published in the media. One is a deputy of the ruling party, the other is a member of the People’s Force formally separated from Georgian Dream.
Zavradashvili decided to remember the history of Georgia and spoke about self-sacrifice for the country: “In the history of Georgia, people sacrificed themselves for the sake of the country’s prosperity and well-being, and somehow we can bear the sanctions. My family and the families of all leaders of “Dream” are ready to bear everything for the well-being of this country.
Dimitri Khundadze, who was a “principled majoritarian” in the past and then left the Georgian dream to “speak more” decided to quote the poem: “If there is a choice, strengthening the sovereignty of the homeland or visas and air tickets, of course the choice will be in favor of the homeland. […] The answer to such an approach in Georgia has been there for a long time, and I will also have this answer, that I will not exchange my homeland for the paradise of another country”.
Soon, Nino Tsilosani also appeared, who told us in a Facebook post that she does not feel guilty and, moreover, she is proud of himself: “In short, if the question is: giving up the country’s interests or sanctions, the answer is clear – I am proud to serve my country.”
Deputy Keti Charkviani also posted a similar position on love for the motherland: “As a reminder, according to all the studies, Georgian Dream has the support of the great majority of the society, which is growing! Any sanction received for the service of Georgia and Georgians has the price of reward”.
I am not going to retreat because of the country, claims Avtandil Enukidze, who meaningfully says “I can say such things at the European Parliament”. Then he adds that he does not intend to continue his political career, and finally he continued: “Until I go there [to the USA], you all be well… I’m not going to [go]. Am I so bad here?”
Shota Khabareli thinks that “Georgia is first” and this day will be written in black in history, which is difficult to dispute, although the deputy’s argument is completely different: “It will be written in black letters in history because Georgia adopts the law on transparency, and because of this, those who vote for it are sanctioned.”
Of course, Aluda Ghudushauri received a special interest from the media, who not so long ago shared photos from the USA with the hashtags #USA, #NewYork, #love, #freedom, #goodlove, #goodlife. The deputy boldly announced that he will now take selfies in Kazbegi, but he did not dare to speak boldly to the journalists and this phrase was shouted by him as he was leaving from the door of the parliament. Before getting into the car, he kept repeating that it would be great if he could not go to America.
Davit Kacharava, a former rugby player and formally resigned from the management team, spoke again about blackmail and threats and added that they are not going to take a single step back. He tried again to wrap criticism of the Russian law as selling of the country’s sovereignty.
Along with talking about the love of the motherland, the deputies could not ignore the issue of sanctioning family members. Some people claimed that this is a Soviet behavior, while others tried to show their indifferent attitude towards this issue.
For example, Merab Kviraia tried to find out from the journalist whether sanctioning her family is correct or not: “Is it fair, how do you think that the legislator should sanction family members because they passed a law?! I asked you a question, do you think this is correct?! Will it be the right decision to sanction family members?! Is it fair?!”.
“Before sanctions are imposed, before all this is done, there is plenty of time. Let’s talk later. Family members are me and my wife, whatever will be, will be. “My family has already studied in Georgia and they are happy,” said Irakli Medzmariashvili.
Mamuka Mdinaradze did not leave the issue without a comment either – he did not even assess this situation anymore, but he still assessed it very shortly.
“It is unprecedented and at the same time comical to sanction a deputy elected by the people for adopting a law according to their own view. Even the Soviet Union refused to distribute responsibility to family members a few decades before its collapse.
The independence of the country is not sold on any visa. For this, us Georgians, and they clearly do not know us yet, have died, not just been refused a visa! Georgians, who will never give up our land, language, faith, traditions, dignity, justice, and thus we will become full members of the European family!” – wrote Mdinaradze in the last days in accordance with his usual rhetoric.
After the deputies talked about the love of the country, mountains and self-sacrifice, the statement of the political council of the party was also published. Of course, with identical subtexts about threats, interference in sovereignty, blackmail. By the way, there is a difference – in contrast to Shota Khabareli’s “Black Day”, the Georgian dream talks about writing with “grey letters” in world history.
“This is an unprecedented event in the history of world politics, when an official representative of one country threatens the legislator of another country with sanctions just because he voted for the transparency law. This event will be written in gray letters in the history of world politics”.
The party also criticized the practice of sanctioning family members and criticized the principles of the civilized world: “In the civilized world, it was widely recognized for decades that the so-called rejection of the principle of subjective impeachment, i.e. spreading the sanction to family members, is a fascist-Bolshevik phenomenon. And now, this form of sanction is used by the official representative of the United States of America, which is shocking”.
In the statement, the party also mentioned the sanctions imposed on judges and slyly said that despite this, the system is still functioning, and then added: “Today, the highest officials of the government of the two EU candidate countries – Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina – have sanctions imposed by the USA, however, both country continues the process of joining the European Union, and there are no delays in this regard.”
At the end, of course, they emphasized again, as if these calls or sanctions are a trade in the country’s sovereignty, which they do not intend.
“No amount of blackmail can force us to take a step against our country. In such a situation, sanctions are only counterproductive and harm the sanctioner himself. Accordingly, we call on everyone to act pragmatically and take effective steps to improve relations, which is equally in the interests of both the Georgian and American people,” the party declares.
The United States of America imposes sanctions, particularly visa restrictions, on members of the Georgian Dream and their family members. It is possible that this list includes other persons besides the deputies and relatives of the ruling team, because the restriction also applies to those who are not only responsible, but also complicit in damaging democracy in Georgia.