Gakharia Slams Georgian Dream, UNM, Speaks of Personal Responsibility  

Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia released a video address on February 17, exactly two years after his resignation, in which he slams the ruling Georgian Dream party, its founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and the opposition United National Movement and speaks of his own responsibility for the current situation in the country.  

Criticism of his former teammates and the UNM 

At the beginning of his approximately five-minute video address, Gakharia talks about the reasons for his resignation, saying that he left his post because “this path led to a dead end of hopelessness, where we remain today.” “I could not convince Georgian Dream at the time that we were distancing ourselves from democratic values and the West,” he said.  

Gakharia noted that much has changed for the worse since his resignation and “we are living in another Georgia”. “Young people are leaving the country out of hopelessness and moving to where they see their future. They do not want to stay in their homeland, which is rapidly returning to the past.”  

The former Prime Minister said that there is no institution in the country that is independent of the ruling party, and “anyone who fights for European and democratic values, or simply for the expression of free opinion, is called an agent.”  

Gakharia also focused on Georgia’s “unprecedented opportunity” to become a member of the European family as a result of the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people, saying that “at this decisive moment, instead of uniting around a common European goal, Bidzina Ivanishvili opened a discussion through his puppets – do we really need Europe?”  

He also said that Bidzina Ivanishvili rejects “the multi-century choice of the Georgian people” only because he “does not want such a Europe that will limit his uncontrolled and illegal power.” “He forgets that the Georgian people shed blood for the European future.” 

Gakharia also criticized his former teammates for their “pseudo-peaceful and cautious policy,” stressing that they were actually exposing the country to “a great danger” and “leaving us unprotected, without real friends, vis-à-vis Russia.” “There is no peace without European future and there is no European future without peace, we deserve it,” he added.  

The former Prime Minister also mentioned the United National Movement, saying that if Georgian Dream is trying to convince the public that “the state is Bidzina Ivanishvili,” the National Movement “is telling us that the state is Mikheil Saakashvili and nothing is important but his health.”  

“In the end, both sides link Georgia’s future to Ivanishvili or Saakashvili,” Gakharia said, adding that “this state is neither Bidzina nor Misha – this state belongs to the Georgian people who made their choice a long time ago and this choice is linked to a European future.”  

Self-criticism  

Giorgi Gakharia also spoke of his personal responsibility for the current situation in the country, admitting that he had contributed to strengthening the power of Bidzina Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream. “This is my mistake,” he noted. 

“I could not imagine that a person who had all the possibilities to play an important, positive role in the history of Georgia, for the sake of his personal interests, stood on the wrong side of history at the decisive moment and acted secretly through his puppets,” Gakharia said.  

He stressed that it was his mistake and his “debt” to the Georgian people, adding that “today is not the time for self-justification.” “It is time for action. No matter what they will call me or what they will accuse me of, even if I remain alone, I will repay this debt,” Gakharia said.    

Also Read:

24/12/2022 – Ex-PM Gakharia Talks EU Integration, Berates Bidzina Ivanishvili

03/03/2022 – Ex-PM Gakharia Talks EU Integration, Berates Bidzina Ivanishvili

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