On 4 December, the leader of the libertarian Georgian party “Girchi” Zurab Japaridze stated that he will not cooperate with fellow members of the party Iago Khvichia, Vakhtang Megrelishvili and Aleksandre Rakviashvili.
“Unfortunately, on the one hand, mine, and on the other hand, the roads of Iago, Vakho and Sandro were divided. I'm not going to [work with them in] “Girchi”… anymore. For many reasons, but not because of the content of Iago's statement,” Japaridze wrote. A day earlier, Japaridze responded to Iago Khvichia's statement regarding child pornography.
“So? One downloaded, saved, and decided to use it once, and was arrested? They went crazy,” Khvichia wrote on Facebook after a citizen's arrest by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for purchasing and consuming child pornography. Japaridze said after several days of silence that Khvichia's statement was “wrong” but not because of the content. As for Rakviashvili, he stated that Japaridze has raised several ultimatums to the party members “on what to say and what not, which is unacceptable [when] taking the party goals and content into account.”
According to the results of Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC), Girchi won 4 seats in the country’s next parliament constitution. A week earlier, it was reported that Girchi were in negotiations with the European Georgia, Strategy Agmashenebeli and Lelo opposition parties to form a coalition (Caucasus Watch reported).
The Girchi party was formed in 2015 after splitting from the United National Movement (UNM). The party supports free-market macroeconomic reform, less state intrusion in individuals’ lives (including the decriminalisation of marijuana), and lower taxes along with EU and NATO membership for Georgia, as well as opposing mandatory military services in the country.
Girchi made the biggest headlines in Georgia in 2017, when it formed the “Christian, Evangelical, Protestant Church of Georgia-Biblical Freedom” in order to oppose the military recruitment in the country. The creation of this church was in accordance with the Georgian law on military service, which states that priests and those studying in religious schools have the right to demand an exemption from mandatory service. It is estimated that about 20 000 young people in Georgia joined the church.
