Georgia has democratic governance, the country is led by a popularly elected government and the ruling Georgian Dream party, and everyone should respect this. Respecting the people’s choice is one of the significant expressions of democracy. Such a statement made today the Prime Minister of Georgia.

“In 2020, when Georgian Dream received the vote of every 2nd voter, it was the people’s will for one party, Georgian Dream, to govern the country without the participation of United National Movement or any of its offshoots.

The people decided this. The fact that one party holds the majority today does not mean a single-party system; you can read this in any textbook. Otherwise, the US, Ukraine, Moldova, and other candidate countries would also be considered single-party states, which is absurd. I advise everyone to review political theory and law textbooks carefully, where it clearly states that one party holding a majority does not constitute single-party rule.

It’s a serious problem when transparency is packaged as a restriction.

Georgia has democratic governance, the country is led by a popularly elected government and the ruling party, Georgian Dream, and everyone should respect this. Some might be irritated by this, others might not, but everyone should show respect for this phenomenon. Respecting the people’s choice is one of the significant expressions of democracy.

Regarding NGOs, we may have our assessments, but no one intends to restrict NGOs. NGO transparency is the only requirement reflected in the Transparency Law.

Therefore, I would wish for more objectivity, though I’ll say one more thing: all of this is temporary. As soon as one election passes, then another – I mean elections in other countries – as soon as the war in Ukraine ends, these incorrect assessments will immediately cease, and relations between Georgia-EU and Georgia-US will immediately reset, which is of fundamental, strategic importance to us”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.