Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, stated that the opposition protest held on May 26 in central Tbilisi was a “verdict for the radical opposition” and demonstrated its true level of support.
Papuashvili stated that the protest participants essentially represented a “Facebook friend list” that mistakenly considers itself the majority.
“Yesterday was a verdict for the radical opposition. Those few thousand people who gathered around them are that very Facebook bubble that fancies itself as society. In reality, what we saw yesterday is just a single Facebook friend list,” the Speaker noted.
Papuashvili claims that the protest was organized by representatives of the United National Movement (UNM) and former allies of Mikheil Saakashvili.
“We saw a United National Movement rally with all its aesthetics, posters, slogans, and faces. It was an event organized by Mikheil Saakashvili and high-ranking representatives of his regime — Gvaramia, Bokeria, Vashadze,” Papuashvili said.
He also criticized the opposition for holding the protest on Georgia’s Independence Day, accusing it of “vassal-like behavior” and relying on foreign support.
“While society celebrates the country’s independence and sovereignty, the radical opposition is busy trying to carry out the instructions of foreigners,” the parliament speaker declared.
According to Papuashvili, “flags of foreign states” were visible at the rally, and the opposition itself, he claimed, seeks to “please external patrons.”
The head of parliament added that after October 4, some citizens “realized the unacceptability of actions against their own country” and attempts to destabilize the situation.
“Yesterday, their real support, energy, and ideas were finally revealed. It became clear that their support comes only from the outside,” Papuashvili emphasized.
He added that Georgia “deserves a better opposition, rather than former high-ranking representatives of the United National Movement who are stuck in the past.”