The leadership of the Georgian Dream party has tried to manage the fallout from their decision to halt the EU accession, as waves of angered citizens filled the streets of the capital and other Georgian cities. Excessive use of force by the police and brutality from non-uniformed “black men” that accompany the riot police forces are fuelling public anger. Starting yesterday, civil servants from various key ministries, including foreign affairs, defense, and justice, have spoken out in favor of Georgia’s European future, distancing themselves from the GD decision.
The crisis comes while the party that ruled Georgia for the past twelve years struggles to affirm its international legitimacy following the elections on October 26. The scale and breadth of violations led the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly observers and the U.S. Helsinki Commissioners to condemn them as not fair and not representative of the people’s will. President Salome Zurabishvili also said the elections “did not take place.” By ignoring the legislative procedures for recognizing the credentials of MPs which are being challenged in the Constitutional Court, the Georgian Dream put itself in constitutional and legal limbo. Thus, the government endorsed by this parliament is considered illegitimate by the opposition, large part of the civil society actors, and influential voices abroad.
Despite the pressure they feel from the streets, the Georgian Dream officials try to remain on the offensive, advancing the following narratives.
“Europe Rejected Us”
To critics who say they halted Georgia’s EU accession, the Georgian Dream officials retort that it was Europe that stopped the process. This statement omits the fact that the conditionalities of accession to the European Union are not for Georgia to establish and that the government led by the Georgian Dream has refused to meet the twelve conditions for candidacy fully and then, after having received candidacy nonetheless, ignored the reformulated nine conditions for opening the accession negotiations. Irakli Kobakhidze, who made a statement about halting the accession, said that the EU used the candidacy and then the accession talks to “blackmail” Georgia. By ending this blackmail, he argued, Georgia is free to enter the EU on its terms – coded as its “values” and its “dignity.”
On November 30, GD spokesman Mamuka Mdinaradze said, trying to put the blame on the EU: “If they [the EU] were to put on the table the paper that says they are ready to start accession negotiations, we would sign it immediately.” Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and GD Secretary-General, made an identical point.
Preventing “New Maidan”
GD also built on its conspiracy theory, claiming that Western powers and their domestic lackeys have been plotting “Georgian Maidan,” or “Natsmaidan”, from the pejorative nickname “Natsi” referring to supporters of the opposition United National Movement. GD claims that the opposition and the Global Party of War conspire to instigate a regime change event similar to Ukraine’s Euromaidan in 2013, which is bound to bring similar results – war and destruction – while the ruling party has been foiling their plots at every step.
Kobakhidze, at the briefing on November 30, said: “Already for the third year, specific European politicians and bureaucrats, whose attempts at Ukrainization of Georgia have failed before, insist on using the [EU] candidacy and [accession] negotiations for weakening the country, promoting so-called polarization and dividing our society. ‘[…] A responsibility for yesterday’s violent manifestation rests with these European politicians and bureaucrats, and their local agents, the fifth column, represented by four [opposition] parties.”
Mdinaradze further suggested : “We have correctly decided to get ahead of, so to say, the very bad developments [the inspirations of the Maidan] planned for December 16-20.” This cryptic statement is wrapped in a conspiracy theory, so it begs explanation: by this statement, a GD official implies that the opposition planned protests for December when GD is set to install their loyal president and the EU Foreign Affairs Council is set to deliberate. In Mdinaradze’s words, the GD made a statement to halt the accession process to provoke protests early and thus catch the conspirators before they were ready. This “tactic” echoes the statement by party patron Bidzina Ivanishvili, who claimed to have re-submitted the law on Foreign Agents in the spring of 2024 so that the protesters “get exhausted” before the October 26 elections.
The State Security Service chimed in on November 30, saying the “destructive developments” have commenced “in accordance with the indications of the case about the violent overthrow of the government, which the SSSG has been informing the public about previously.” The Security Service has been repeatedly launching “coup investigations,” which led to some interrogations publicized by the GD-aligned media and then shelved. They are diligently “re-activated” during the crisis.
GD MPs also started spinning rumors that “foreign citizens” were detained during protests. “This is an interesting question … what are they doing on Rustaveli Avenue today?” wondered Rati Ionatamishvili.
Violence “from all sides”
Faced with the video proof of police violence, GD admits it, condemns it, but also says demonstrators have instigated it.
“It is, of course, horrible to see a lying man kicked in the face, and there can be no justification for this, but if we want to be even a bit more objective, we have to point out that the instigators of violence are not one, two, five or ten, but hundreds of demonstrators.” Both Mdinaradze and Kobakhidze thanked the police for keeping their cool when the protesters “simply came out for seeking violence.”
The Ministry of Interior has been repeatedly briefing about the injuries sustained by the police officers, statements that are given high prominence in GD-loyal media.
Civil servants are “misled,” “pressured”
As more civil servants and diplomats have distanced themselves from the ruling party, they felt the need to react. GD MP Nino Tsilosani’s first reaction to such statements from Foreign Ministry employees was to say, “You will sound even more convincing if you just resign and then think about your values.”
The subsequent response from GD was to disparage and patronize the signatories.
Mdinaradze gaslighted the signatories saying: “To those people who can’t resist the pseudo-liberal fascism and their bullying: don’t strain yourselves too much, no need to send up the apologies from the back door either, post freely [on social media] that Georgia’s place is in Europe. […] We are there, holding that very position, but those who bully you – as yourselves, where do they stand really? […] Ask yourselves how you allowed yourself to be bullied [by the opposition] this way.”
Too much to handle?
The Georgian Dream’s attempt to remain on the offensive is hitting the wall of mounting widespread anger, which does not seem to be dampened – so far – by the police violence or public relations tactics. On the contrary. Now, by demanding access to the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GBP) the opposition is trying to break the ruling party’s monopoly on nationwide television broadcasters, which gives them preferential access to the suburban voters.
