The imprisoned leader of the Droa party, Elene Khoshtaria, has published an appeal addressing public questions regarding her cooperation with former Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri. According to Khoshtaria, she made the decision to begin cooperating with Gilauri independently, after receiving answers to questions of fundamental importance to her. She emphasized that she personally bears responsibility for this decision.
The opposition politician stated that at all stages of interaction, decisions were made jointly by the four leaders of the Coalition for Change. According to her, Gilauri did not set any conditions, give instructions, or demand any political guarantees for himself.
Khoshtaria also refuted claims that Gilauri had conditioned his cooperation on being nominated for the post of prime minister. According to her, he merely advocated for the need for a single candidate for the position. Among the potential candidates, Khoshtaria claims, former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili was also discussed.
According to the Droa leader, the bulk of the cooperation was dedicated to developing reform proposals, economic development issues, improving public administration, and developing the Middle Corridor.
Khoshtaria also stated that the Coalition for Change never aimed to attract supporters of the United National Movement (UNM). According to her, Gilauri, on the contrary, considered such a scenario risky and advocated for attracting new voters.
“We have always spoken about the need to attract new voters, rather than sharing the electorate with the United National Movement. I declare with full responsibility that this was Nika Gilauri’s position, which we fully shared.
I did not agree with Gilauri remaining in the shadows, and we discussed, debated, and reasoned about this more than once. I believe that a political figure with political ambitions must position themselves publicly.
Following the falsification of the elections, Nika Gilauri did not disappear. He continued to maintain relations with us. He participated in the protests after the rigged elections and stood on Rustaveli Avenue for a long time after Kobakhidze’s statement on November 28.
In addition, he established a charitable foundation that paid for the medical treatment of many people injured during the protests. The foundation helped conscientious public servants who were dismissed from their jobs for their loyalty to Georgia’s European future. The foundation also paid numerous unlawful fines.
Gilauri’s charitable foundation was frozen by the Ivanishvili regime. Nika Gilauri is not the only person who stepped away from this cause at some stage, and I do not believe at all that he has any obligations in this regard. Let society judge for itself when it is right to appear and when to leave—that is another matter. I believe that we can only thank him for his struggle against Bidzina Ivanishvili.
I repeat: absolutely any questions, criticism, and rejection of any politician, including myself, are legitimate, and we are obliged to answer these questions. At the same time, I want to emphasize that the recipient of my answers is solely the public, and not the leader, member, or representative of any other party.
Despite everything, I believe that there is space for a joint struggle,” Elene Khoshtaria writes in her letter.
