Georgia’s Burchuladze Clarifies Controversial Campaign Promise
TBILISI - Paata Burchuladze, the former opera singer-turned leader of the State for People party, said Wednesday that he was misinterpreted by the media and his opponents when he made a controversial campaign promise to double the number of people in the country who receive welfare assistance.
“Only 500,000 people currently receive welfare aid from the government. We plan to increase this number to one million,” Burchuladze told voters on August 28.
Burchuladze was immediately criticized for the comment, with political experts slamming the statement as reckless and uninformed.
The country’s main opposition part, the United National Movement (UNM), mocked Burchuladze comments, saying he “essentially wants to increase the number of poor people in the country”.
According to Burchuladze, his promise does not mean that the number of poor people will be doubled, but it means that more people should receive state assistance.
“When the government tells us that there are 500,000 vulnerable people in this country, this is a misleading statement. In reality, this figure is at least one million,” Burchuladze explained while presenting candidates in Batumi.
Burchuladzeclairified his statement by saying that if his party wins the elections in October, the real number of poor people in the country will get the assistance they need from the state.
“From October 9, we will sign a social assistance bill for at-risk citizens. We will help them get back on their feet,” Burchuladze claimed.
Zurab Japaridze, the founder of political party Girchi which merged with Burchuladze’s party in August, says the coalition intends to increase social assistance by abolishing any assistance to wealthy people.
At present, just over 1,600,000 citizens are registered for the government’s social service program, with 477,840 receiving welfare assistance from the state.
According to the Head of Social Assistance Department, Tea Gvaramia, not all registered individuals seek monetary assistance.
By Thea Morrison
Edited by Nicholas Waller