Georgian pro-government group calls for ‘cleansing’ of opposition voters

The pro-government United Neutral Georgia group has advocated for opposition voters to be identified and prosecuted after Georgia’s 26 October parliamentary elections.

On Tuesday morning, the group stated that Georgia remained afflicted by ‘revolutionary scenarios’, ‘pseudo-liberalism’, and ‘polarisation’ imposed from abroad.

They said that Georgia’s opposition forces were ‘rootless spies’ supported by their ‘outside patrons’ as well as Georgians who vote for them in the elections. 

‘When you continue to vote for the National Movement, it means that you, too, are an enemy of the country […] Participation in a crime is punishable not only morally but also under the criminal code!’, read their statement.

They welcomed the ruling Georgian Dream party’s continued promises to prosecute and ban opposition groups for ‘provoking’ the August 2008 War and allegedly attempting to pull Georgia into another conflict with Russia.

[Read more: Georgian Dream to seek constitutional majority to ban the opposition] 

However, the group argued that banning the opposition would be ‘difficult’ as long as their supporters continue to vote for them in elections.

‘This time, we must finally succeed in addressing and uprooting the root of the problem and the evil. As mentioned, the root of the problem lies with each individual voter who, over time, has sustained and kept alive the metastasis of society — the collective National Movement’.

United Neutral Georgia suggested that supporters of the opposition should be ‘cleansed’ similarly to how West Germany prosecuted Nazis after World War II.

Georgian Dream and their satellites refer to all major pro-Western opposition groups in Georgia as the ‘collective National Movement’ or the ‘National Movement’, a reference to the former ruling party, the United National Movement (UNM). 

United Neutral Georgia singled out For Georgia’s Giorgi Gakharia and Lelo chair and Strong Georgia leader Mamuka Khazaradze as ‘foreign spies’ run by ‘foreign taskmasters’. 

Unlike many in the opposition, Gakharia, a former prime minister under Georgian Dream, and Khazaradze, a former banker, have never been a part of the UNM.

[Read more: Who’s who in Georgia’s parliamentary elections?] 

‘Both are much more dangerous forces for our country than the National Movement’, they said, echoing statements made earlier by Georgian Dream Executive Secretary Mamuka Mdinaradze, who argued on 10 October that Gakharia and Khazaradze ‘today pose a much greater threat to Georgian society than the old wing of the National Movement’.

The pro-government group additionally accused the UNM of political repression and ‘plunging’ Georgia into the August 2008 War, which they argued was greenlit by their foreign ‘patrons’. They said that the UNM has continued to destabilise Georgia since they lost power in 2012.

Their press conference on Tuesday morning was broadcast live by two pro-government stations, Imedi and POSTV.

United Neutral Georgia was founded in July by supporters of Georgian Dream. Unlike Georgian Dream itself, which claims to still support Georgia’s pro-Western foreign policy, United Neutral Georgia opposes Georgia’s EU and NATO membership aspirations.

Their proposal to punish the opposition voters came amidst growing accusations from some pro-Western parties that the authorities were using psychological manipulation to convince voters — especially those outside Tbilisi — that their choices at the polling stations would not remain confidential and could lead to repercussions.