On 27 May, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has chastised President Salome Zourabichvili for her words in her Independence Day address on Russian-occupied Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, as well as the Georgian judiciary.

The GD leader said that the president had "practically mentioned Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region as neighbours and spoke about their sovereignty" in her speech. In terms of the judiciary, MP Kobakhidze said that President Zourabichvili made a "shameful" statement against the country's judicial system without providing any evidence to back up her assertion. He alleged that Zourabichvili had entered the entirely ungrounded campaign against the judiciary and was attempting to destroy the reputation of the judicial system. "However, she has harmed the presidency as a whole.”

"I think it's a really severe problem when people don't know what to talk about on a happy day like May 26th," he added, "and I think we should bring it up with the [Zourabichvili] to defend the institution." 

"Georgia will not act against you by violence and force," President Zourabichvili said in her speech to people of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. "Today, everyone can see which country poses a threat to its neighbours' sovereignty, identity, and lives. This isn't Georgia," she stated emphatically. "I appeal to you and suggest that, just as we formed the Georgian state together in the past, now we should construct an equitable future together," she said to the occupied areas' population. "I invite you to join us in building a unified Europe. I give you independence, as well as respect for the protection of your language, identity, history, and culture. I propose a new agreement."