President's Fate in Georgia

By Malkhaz Matsaberidze

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Today, one of the current topics of Georgian politics is the issue of taking the imprisoned third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, abroad for medical treatment. This is demanded from the current Georgian government, due to the serious health condition of the ex-president, and the leaders of Georgian Dream categorically refuse to transfer Saakashvili abroad for treatment. The created situation reminded many of the fate of Saakashvili's predecessor and subsequent presidents. It made the subject of discussion the general question of how far the institution of the president has been established in Georgia.

The position of president in Georgia, like many post-Soviet countries, was introduced after the restoration of independence. The first president of Georgia was Zviad Gamsakhurdia. If his presidency had been in a "peaceful" country, in whose domestic affairs Russia would not have interfered, the fate of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and the country would have been different.

Zviad Gamsakhurdia was overthrown by semi-criminal armed groups and had to leave Georgia to Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev. And then, having returned to Georgia, he died under unknown circumstances in a mountainous village in Western Georgia.

According to the official version, he killed himself, according to another version, he was killed. Zviad Gamsakhurdia was transferred to Chechnya and buried in Grozny, and later, during Saakashvili's presidency, he was transferred to Georgia and buried with great honor in Mtatsminda Pantheon. After the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia, the forces that came to power blamed everything on the president's institution, saying it should be abolished. However, Eduard Shevardnadze, who came to power, returned the institution of the president in 1995 and he himself was elected president twice, although he did not complete the second presidential term.

After the Rose revolution, Shevardnadze had to resign in November 2003 and, as he told the journalists, he went 'home'. After that, Shevardnadze stayed at home until his death in 2014 and did not participate in public and political life anymore. The new president Saakashvili was negative towards his predecessor. As they say, at first he wanted to arrest and try Shevardnadze, but he refused to do so on the advice of his Western friends.

The fate of Mikheil Saakashvili himself turned out to be difficult. Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream were and are extremely hostile towards him. However, Saakashvili admitted defeat in the 2012 parliamentary elections and handed over power to Bidzina Ivanishvili's bloc.

A one-year 'cohabitation' period also took place when Saakashvili remained in the position of president, however, in Georgian politics, cohabitation was made a curse word, and the Georgian Dream blamed everything bad during this period on cohabitation. Saakashvili had to leave Georgia and became actively involved in Ukrainian politics. Saakashvili has made many mistakes, but perhaps the main mistake was returning to Georgia in the fall of 2021 after eight years.

As it turns out now, there was a difference of opinion in the "National Movement" regarding Mikheil Saakashvili's return to Georgia. The leader of the party, Nika Melia, for example, did not want this, while others, on the contrary, promised Saakashvili a great turnout of the people. However, as it turned out, it was wrong to hope for this.

The health condition of Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently in prison, is grave.

Georgia had two more presidents after Mikheil Saakashvili. These two presidents were already elected with the support of the Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili personally, as a result of the change in the constitution, they no longer had real power and turned into symbolic presidents, but their relationship with the ruling party turned out to be quite difficult.

The 4th President Giorgi Margvelashvili (2013-2018) ended his presidency with a bad relationship with the Georgian Dream, the next, the current president, Salome Zurabishvili, has already become the object of criticism from the Georgian Dream many times. The last reason for this criticism is Mikheil Saakashvili.

Speaking to the BBC, Salome Zurabishvili said that the former president should not die in prison. According to him, Saakashvili's situation is "a very important issue for the country's reputation and dignity." According to President Zurabishvili, if a relevant conclusion is made regarding Saakashvili's health condition, then the court should make a decent decision, thus solving two problems:

The first refers to Saakashvili's health problem, and the second shows that the court is independent, which is also important for the country. Georgian Dream government officials rule out transferring Saakashvili anywhere for treatment. Opponents of the government demand Salome Zurabishvili pardon Mikheil Saakashvili. According to them, Saakashvili's situation is so difficult that this issue cannot be prolonged any longer.