Ivanishvili on Gakharia’s new party: Political cooperation with Giorgi Gakharia is unacceptable

Former Prime Minister of Georgia and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party has reacted to ex-PM Gakharia’s launching of his new political party For Georgia. In his first public statement since his official resignation five months ago, Bidzina Ivanishvili described Gakharia’s resignation in February and the consequent creation of a new political party as “traitorous” towards his own party and the state:

“One of the leaders of the ruling party and a government official with the most power resigned at a completely incomprehensible time, for a completely unknown reason - he resigned because he did not want the rule of law and law enforcement to be fulfilled by the political team. A similar case of such an incident can hardly be found in the history of world politics,” Ivanishvili said.

He also said that the reason why he broke his silence and issued a public statement is because of the rumors of his involvement in Gakharia’s new party:

“I see it as an attempt to continue to link my name to Georgian politics by spreading false information, and, despite my resignation, I feel obliged to give a small explanation to the public on this matter. It is no secret that the creation of pseudo-parties has been a vicious practice widely introduced in Georgia over the years. On top of such practice in itself being wrong, any political cooperation with Giorgi Gakharia would be completely unacceptable to me.”

“One of the main results that the Georgian Dream has achieved with me and my departure from politics is the end of the vicious tradition of personality cult and messianism in Georgia. I am deeply convinced that the party I founded will continue to successfully ensure the strength of the state, the protection of democratic institutions, and the rule of law which is a necessary condition for the country’s further development", the statement concluded.

Ex-Pm Gakharia who resigned from his post in February amidst the “disagreements with other team members” on the subject of the arrest of the leader of the opposition United National Movement party Nika Melia, has already responded to Ivanishvili’s statement. On his Twitter Gakharia posted:

“The events are developing in an interesting and faster way than expected... No one and nothing can stop the truth. Eventually, everyone will understand this. Again without gossiping, we unite for Georgia, against no one!”