Tazo Datuntashvili, one of the leaders of the Lelo – Strong Georgia party, is calling on the Georgian Prime Minister to resign. Commenting on rising prices and inflation, the opposition politician stated that the parliamentary “price study commission” “has become a mockery of Georgian citizens.”
“Georgia has completed its sixth month of rising prices, and we can now present the data for May—the sixth month of Irakli Kobakhidze’s political failure and total lies. The failure of the ‘price commission’ is confirmed by Geostat (the National Statistics Office of Georgia) data for May. Annual inflation in May stood at 5.7%.”
According to him, it can be said “clearly and unequivocally” that the parliamentary commission, the “even more shameful investigation by the SGB” (State Security Service), propaganda channels, and Irakli Kobakhidze’s constant statements that price increases are allegedly controlled by the authorities were “pure lies and a mockery of the citizens.”
He added that this concerns people who need state support the most and who want to believe the words of the authorities because they are in a difficult situation, but have “once again been deceived.”
Datuntashvili recalled that, despite campaign promises to reduce the excise tax on gasoline, Georgian Dream, on the contrary, doubled this tax in 2017. According to him, reducing the excise tax would have affected not only fuel prices but also the cost of all goods and services dependent on it.
He also stated that amid high inflation, the government increased pensions for retirees by only 20 GEL (Georgian Lari), while the salaries of public officials grew by thousands of GEL.
In conclusion, he noted that every month citizens are forced to choose between buying food, medicine, and paying utility bills, as they cannot afford everything at once.
“Irakli Kobakhidze is responsible for this difficult and shameful situation, and he must start by apologizing and resigning! It has been six months since he began completely misleading citizens and deceiving them on such sensitive issues as people’s daily lives,” Tazo Datuntashvili stated.
