Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of the capital and the Secretary-General of the Georgian Dream, publishes an address on his Facebook page.
According to him, international organizations assessed the 2020 elections as one with democratic standards, but Kaladze writes that there were shortcomings and inaccuracies. According to him, the responsibility for these shortcomings lies with the government as well as the opposition.
As Kaladze writes, the opposition has not received this number of mandates in any election so far. He urges opponents to listen to the recommendations of international partners and try to end polarization.
"All of our international partners positively assess the 2020 parliamentary elections. By democratic standards, these elections were no less than any previous elections, and the changed electoral system has substantially improved the quality of party representation. Still, I agree that there were several flaws and inaccuracies.
However, the government has more responsibilities. Of course, all this needs to be refined and corrected. Here, a new, pluralistic and diverse parliament must play a leading role, and the elimination of shortcomings must be achieved with the involvement of each and every one of you. As you know, the opposition has never had so many seats in parliament. Let us use this opportunity for the benefit of our country! It is the order of the people, the parliament to be diverse, to fight together against the common challenges like COVID-19, poverty, occupation, and economic misery. Maybe we should try to unite in doing good deeds for our country.
Maybe we should try to end the polarization we have today as everyone is in a stressful environment.
As the Mayor of the city, I take responsibility that I will spare no effort for this. Friends, once again, I appeal to you to listen to our friends' advice (US, OSCE-ODIHR, etc.), do not increase the risks for our country, which is already facing significant challenges. I want to address each member of the opposition - we must find a common language, enter the parliament and respond to the common challenges of our country from there because we must all build the future of this country together," Kaladze wrote.
