Georgian Dream Resigns as Observer Member of Party of European Socialists Over Ideological Differences and Threat of Expulsion
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, May 12, 2023
At a briefing, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chairman of the Georgian Dream party, announced that the ruling party has decided to resign from their position as an observer member of the Party of European Socialists and other affiliated organizations. Kobakhidze also mentioned that they plan to send a written statement to the Party of European Socialists without delay.
Kobakhidze has explained that the Georgian Dream party decided to end its partnership with the Party of European Socialists due to the threat of expulsion they received. This threat was reportedly issued because of their participation in a conservative conference held in Hungary on May 4, which had the slogan God, Motherland, Family. He stated that the officials of the European political party critically evaluated their participation in the conservative conference and issued a public threat of termination of cooperation without prior mutual communication. According to Kobakhidze, this kind of attitude and action by the leaders of the Socialist Party of Europe is considered fundamentally unacceptable to the Georgian Dream party.
According to him, Georgian Dream had been an observer member of PES since 2015, but PES had never issued a statement in support of their party. Instead, individual representatives of PES had actively participated in the political campaigns of the "radical opposition". Furthermore, many MEPs from PES had supported "absurd" resolutions calling for sanctions against the founder of "Georgian Dream," the release of individuals convicted of crimes, and the termination of criminal prosecutions. Kobakhidze stated that the membership of "Georgian Dream" in PES had not been productive and had even been counterproductive under these conditions.
The Chairman stated that since 2015, the Georgian Dream had observed the ideological transformation of PES, which has increasingly moved away from classical social-democratic ideology towards a pseudo-liberal platform.
Kobakhidze emphasized that this kind of ideological transformation is not acceptable for their party and is incompatible with the values and visions of Georgian society.
"As it is known, our participation in the conservative conference was critically evaluated by the officials of the European political party, whose observer member is "Georgian Dream." Moreover, there was a public threat from their side about the termination of cooperation, which was not preceded by mutual communication. This kind of attitude and action of the leaders of the "Socialist Party of Europe" is fundamentally unacceptable to us.
Our party has been an observer member of PES since 2015. Unfortunately, until today, PES has not made a single loud statement in support of the "Georgian Dream." Individual representatives of PES regularly joined the political campaigns of the radical opposition. Last year and this year, several dozens of MEPs from PES supported the absurd resolutions by which the European Parliament demanded the imposition of sanctions on the founder of our party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the release of two criminals, Nika Gvaramia and Mikheil Saakashvili, and the termination of criminal prosecution against another criminal, Davit Kezerashvili. Unfortunately, PES has never once condemned the support of absurd resolutions by its members. In such conditions, the membership of "Georgian Dream" in PES did not play a positive role; on the contrary, it was completely counterproductive.
From 2015 to the present day, we have continuously observed the ideological transformation of PES. The mentioned party was increasingly moving away from the classical social-democratic ideology and moving to a pseudo-liberal platform, which is responsible for overcoming the ideological crisis created in the modern world. This kind of ideological transformation of PES is unacceptable for us and incompatible with the values and visions of our party, as well as the Georgian society," said Kobakhidze.
