Georgia's pro-European president Salome Zurabishvili yesterday called for radical reforms ahead of crucial parliamentary elections, which are being held against the backdrop of political crisis because of the controversial "foreign influence" law, which she vetoed, BTA reported.
Georgia must "create a new political reality," she said in a speech outside the presidential palace on Georgia's Independence Day. She called on all pro-European political parties to join her initiative and form a united opposition front before the parliamentary elections in October.
In addition, she criticized several laws passed by the ruling Georgian Dream party "which are detrimental to Georgia's European course". We must "be able to start negotiations on EU membership as soon as possible," she added ahead of the vote, which will be a test of the European aspirations of the people of the former Caucasian Soviet republic.
Several opposition parties have backed President Zurabishvili's initiative, which faces a "Georgian Dream" that is accused of diverting Georgia from its path to EU membership and bringing Tbilisi back into Russia's orbit. The ruling party has a large majority in parliament and is expected to override the president's veto of the "foreign influence" law next week.
From December 2023, Georgia is an official candidate for EU membership. Although "Georgian Dream" officially supports the constitutional goal of one day joining the EU and NATO, the party, which has been in power since 2012, has in recent years taken more measures to bring the country closer to Moscow, notes AFP.