Chair of the United National Movement Faction: "It Is Impossible to Separate Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili From Georgian Politics"

Khatia Dekanoidze, the leader of the United National Movement faction, thinks it's hard to separate former president Mikheil Saakashvili from Georgian politics. "No one has talked about Saakashvili's choice to leave the UNM," Dekanoidze said. "I don't think it's possible to separate Mikheil Saakashvili from Georgia and Georgian politics, because Mikheil Saakashvili is a factor in Georgian politics, based on his personality, his past, and his present."

"I wouldn't draw any conclusions based on his social networking, posts, or what a few lawyers say. It is crazy to think that Mikheil Saakashvili could be taken away from Georgia. He is Georgia's third head of state. We, as a party, his friends, and all those who are not only related to Mikheil Saakashvili but also have had a very important relationship with him over the years, have not heard any personal statement about the National Movement and Mikheil Saakashvili splitting up according to his wishes. So, this hasn't been something we've talked about," Dekanoidze said.

The US and EU Embassies in Georgia Meet With Political Parties in Parliament

Aleksandre Elisashvili, the Chairman of the parliamentary political group "Citizens", Davit Usupashvili, the Chairman of the parliamentary political group "Lelo"-Partnership for Georgia", Khatia Dekanoidze, and Mikheil Daushvili, a member of the parliament, were all met by Julien Kramps, the acting head of the European Union mission in Georgia, and Lana Owen and Evan Elliott, political officers from the US Embassy.

"We talked about how the twelve recommendations from the European Union are being done to get the long-awaited EU membership candidacy. I told the guests what was going on in the parliament, how hard these working groups were working, and how much the opposition was involved in this matter. The reform of the justice system has gotten a lot of attention. We told the diplomats that we are the only party other than the [ruling] Georgian Dream that has offered a different view on justice reform and how important it is," Elisashvili said.

The National Movement Wants the Prosecutor General’s Office to Start a Criminal Investigation Into Election Fraud

Levan Bezhashvili, a member of the United National Movement, made the statement at the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. He did this on behalf of his party and asked for a criminal investigation into election fraud to be started.Bezhashvili says that the National Movement has asked for an investigation based on what the former head of the Security Council, Soso Gogashvili, has said.

"The public knows that Soso Gogashvili published evidence that shows the government rigged elections in a systematic, organised way and that the Georgian Dream party, as well as the State Security Service, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and local municipalities, were all involved. The Georgian Dream led to the creation of a unified criminal state system that was meant to rig elections and take power," he added.

"With this criminal case, the Georgian Dream Government should start to lose its right to be in power. The oligarchic rule has created a system where the state is taken over and neither the court, the prosecutor's office, nor the police serve the people. Because of this, we want an investigation into specific election fraud to begin. We are telling the Prosecutor's Office investigators and prosecutors that this case will be watched closely by the public. They will have to look into this case, or their own cases will be looked at later under the abuse of office article. "