Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has signed a decree officially setting 26 October as the date for parliamentary elections, marking the official start of the pre-election campaign. At the briefing, the President criticised the ruling power and its threats to Georgian citizens, whether in relation to the war or the suppression of dissent. She also stressed the importance of the elections "to put Georgia back on its own path" and noted that it was time for citizens to mobilise and take action. She urged citizens to turn out to vote on 26 October.

The President also noted that "today we are not dealing with ordinary elections" in which the citizen chooses political power according to his or her worldview, but "we are dealing with saving the future of the country" and "our choice today is existential". According to her, "this choice will determine the fate of the country for many years".

Zourabichvili noted that "it is a lie" when "they want to convince us that this will be some kind of choice between war and peace", as presented by "Georgian Dream". According to the President, elections cannot reduce the risk of war and no one ever chooses war, no one wants war in Georgia and no one is preparing for war. According to her, "isolation, internal conflict, blurring of one's priorities and goals increases the enemy's appetite, i.e. the danger of war".

As the president mentioned, the elections will be the " equal price" of the referendum, but the referendum will be "Europe or Russia". Zourabichvili noted that the Georgian people should choose what they want - "the past or progress", "freedom or slavery", "dictatorship or democracy", "one-party power or multi-party government", "dignity or unprincipled", "Christian tolerance or Russian violence". "Independence or occupation".

In Zourabichvili's view, the Georgian people have rarely in their history had the opportunity "to decide their own destiny calmly, through the expression of their own will". "It is precisely because we do not want war or internal conflict that it is necessary to have our say through elections," the president said.
She also condemned Bidzina Ivanishvili's 29 April speech, which she called a "war speech", saying Ivanishvili had "declared war on his own people, his own youth and the country's patriots at home and on our loyal partners abroad". According to Zourabichvili, "then we stood unconditionally at the crossroads of our future, facing vital choices: either there will be a European, democratic, free and truly dignified future - or a return to the past, sinking into the pitfalls of Russia, which is showing its cruel and merciless face day by day".

Zourabichvili noted that "Dream" promised people "revenge", "harassment", "persecution of people with different opinions", "restriction of free protest", "banning of political opponents", as it appeared during the pre-election tour of the regions. "In short, he promised us a one-party, one-person dictatorship," the president added.

Referring to the government's threats, the president said the elections would be held under "quite difficult conditions". But, she said, threats of war and bans "mean nothing" because "there is no government that goes against the people and wins".

"If everyone understands their responsibility, if society is fully mobilised, then votes, stability and the future will be fully protected," Zourabichvili said, stressing that there will be no second chance for such a choice. The President concluded that "no one can deceive the Georgian people, neither with pseudo pro-Europeanism nor with false patriotism... The Georgian people will win on 26 October".