Ruling Georgian Dream party, gov’t deny rumors about resignation of prime minister
According to the opposition TV channel Mtavari Arkhi, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia will soon leave his post.
The parliamentary majority and the administration of the government refute this information.
Mtavari Arkhi claims the resignation of Gakharia was demanded by the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili at a meeting on June 1, and received a refusal.
The television company claims that “the decision to dismiss Gakharia by June 20, the anniversary of the so-called ‘night of Gavrilov’, is final,” and this will happen in the coming days.
The government administration said in this regard that “the prime minister is at the workplace, holding meetings” and is not thinking about resigning. Rumors about the Prime Minister’s resignation were also denied by the leader of the parliamentary majority, Mamuka Mdinaradze.
“This is a usual ploy, launched to promote the topic. The opposition has recently been inventing something, launching it in the media, and then we hear her annoyed comments on this matter,” Mdinaradze said.
Giorgi Gakharia was appointed Prime Minister of Georgia in September 2019. Prior to that, he worked as the Minister of the Interior.
It was during his work as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on June 20, 2019 that the so-called “night of Gavrilov” took place when a large-scale protest rally took place in Tbilisi in connection with the arrival of Russian State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov in Georgia and his speech in the country’s parliament from the speaker’s chair.
The opposition protest was crushed by special forces and police.
During the clashes, more than 200 people were injured. Several people lost their eyes from rubber bullets, several protesters were injured.
Among the victims were about 40 journalists and 80 police officers. Activists and the opposition blamed the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Giorgi Gakharia, for the dispersal of the demonstration and began to demand his immediate resignation.
However, by the decision of Bidzina Ivanishvili, in September 2019, Gakharia was appointed prime minister.
