No one plans to go anywhere just because Tsulukiani stomps her foot, especially not the leaders of our coalition," said one of the leaders of "Strong Georgia," Aleko Elisashvili, in response to the summoning of coalition leaders Badri Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze to a parliamentary temporary investigative commission.

According to Elisashvili, "Georgian Dream" needs this investigative commission as a tool to intimidate "Strong Georgia" and use it for repression.

"If the prosecutor's office wants to come after us, let them. Haven't they already? So, if someone refuses to attend the investigative commission, they will be jailed for a year? Let them be jailed—who is afraid of them? Should we play along with them and participate in that disgraceful process? First of all, this commission cannot even conduct a real investigation; it is just a consultative body that will write a report and decide whether to send it to the prosecutor's office or not. Why even send a report to the prosecutor's office when the people involved are alive and speaking out about what happened, yet the incompetent authorities refuse to investigate? If they truly wanted to investigate something, they would have done so already.

Today, they need this as a means to intimidate us and use repression. They see that we haven't bowed our heads or kneeled before them. Our coalition stands strong and principled, and they don't know what else to do to scare us. I have my own trial on April 1, and now they’ve set a timer on Badri and Mamuka. I wanted to show that no one is going to move at the stomp of their foot. I wanted to demonstrate that we are not afraid of their tactics," Elisashvili stated.

He further explained that if coalition leaders had attended the investigative commission, it would have legitimized both the commission and the parliament.

"By going to the investigative commission, we would be recognizing their authority and legitimizing this circus, along with the commission and parliament itself. Secondly, it would have been nothing but insults—there would be no room for normal debates. When was the last time real debates or meaningful discussions took place in parliament? You turn on the microphone, and all you get are insults. Haven't they been silencing the opposition lately? They turn off the microphones, so even if you speak in that room, the public won't hear you on air," Elisashvili said.

For context, the parliamentary temporary investigative commission, which is examining the activities of the former "United National Movement" government, summoned the leaders of "Strong Georgia"—Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze—but neither of them attended the session. Opposition politicians have stated on social media that they do not intend to participate in these proceedings.

The temporary investigative commission plans to refer Mamuka Khazaradze's case to the prosecutor's office. According to the commission's chair, Tea Tsulukiani, the reason for this is Khazaradze's failure to appear at the scheduled hearing. The commission will also deliberate on whether to refer Badri Japaridze’s case to the prosecutor's office.