Page 10 - GEORptSep22

2.6 Governing party MPs resign in Georgia amid spat with US ambassador
Four more MPs have resigned from Georgia's ruling party, this time over the US ambassador's remarks calling a letter from their former party members "lies and conspiracy". Giorgi Gambashidze, Nika Samkharadze, Omar Jikhvashvili, and Saba Kbilashvili have announced they are leaving the party and the parliament.
The decision came after their former colleague Mikheil Kavelashvili accused the US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, of encouraging civil society and the opposition to push Georgia towards war with Russia.
The ambassador slammed the former MP during remarks at the July 8 USAID event. "Get to work, get to work on fulfilling the [EC] recommendations, not talking about them," Degnan said.
Last month, Sozar Subari, Mikheil Kavelashvili and Dimitri Khundadze resigned as Georgian Dream MPs, pointing to "great powers” who want to organise a revolution in Georgia.
Gambashidze announced his resignation on Facebook, citing his desire to "speak more freely."
"It's unacceptable that a representative of the main friendly country [the US] does not even finish reading the letter addressed to her and insults Kavelashvili, a member of the Georgian parliament," Gambashidze said. He compared the attitude of the US ambassador to that of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, "where general secretaries ... were giving instructions from Russia".
He emphasised: "We cannot accept such an attitude from anyone else, even from a friend." Other MPs repeated the same claims with matching comparisons.
Gambashidze also noted that it is paramount for Georgian Dream not to lose the majority in any district. "This will only help us do the work of the enemies of the country [the United National Movement]," he said.
10 GEORGIA Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com