President of Georgia: the process of 'national reconciliation' should be continue in a new format
President Zurabishvili’s reconciliation initiative
After a meeting with non-governmental organizations, President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said that the process of public reconciliation initiated by her should be continued in a new format.
According to the president, the beginning of the process is not the reconciliation of parties, since she “has neither leverage nor strength” for this, and she hopes that all parties and opposition will take part in this process.
“The biggest New Year’s gift for the country would be all of us who came to this palace to be able to sit down and talk. This means we can all talk to everyone. There must be no exceptions if there is a desire for this”, Zurabishvili said.
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On December 10, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili spoke at the Democracy Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, and stated that polarization, the spread of false information and hate speech not only incite internal discord, but also undermine state institutions and democratic processes, including the two foundations of democracy – trust in elections and media.
The President then sent out invitations to opposition representatives to join a New Year’s Eve party and promised to begin a reconciliation process.
Representatives of almost all opposition parties in Georgia and former members of the ruling party, including Tamar Chugoshvili, have already attended meetings with Zurabishvili.
According to Khatia Dekanoidze, one of the leaders of the main opposition United National Movement party, she spoke with Salome Zurabishvili about the detention of the third president, Mikhail Saakashvili, and about politicized justice in general, “which hinders the development of the country”.
Zurabishvili previously stated that she would “never pardon” former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been in prison since October 1, 2021.
