Georgian Dream: president's initiative on holding referendum - speculation

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili referred to President Salome Zurabichvili’s call for a “referendum on the nation’s future” as “not serious” and “speculation”.

Papuashvili’s comments came after Salome Zurabichvili issued a call for the referendum in response to the Parliament’s decision to override her veto on the foreign agents law.

"This is not serious, this is speculation. They are removed not only from the will of the [public], but also from reality, and every time they receive the picture they received yesterday, they will again be frustrated and disappointed, because they are not acting in the interest of the people”, Papuashvili said.

According to him, the artificial plans that are sometimes drawn up, that are whispered by their foreign patrons, turn out to be completely out of touch with the will of the Georgian people and reality.

Yesterday, the Georgian Parliament overrode the veto placed by the President on the law with 84 votes against four, on the backdrop of ongoing public protests.