Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia and chairman of the Georgian Dream party, in presenting the party’s first twenty MP candidates from the Party’s electoral list on September 10, spoke about the significant changes the government has made over the past eight years, and said the ruling team had fulfilled all its commitments. According to him, caring for peopleon the background of the economic crisis and the difficulties caused by the pandemic “has become the hallmark of the “Georgian Dream”: “Caring for people and their social support in this difficult crisis has become the hallmark ature of the “Georgian Dream”. I can boldly say that we are honest with the people, we are doing our best in terms of the current economic situation of our country, but we also know very well that we are still far from the desired result . . .”
In the same speech, Ivanishvili focused on economic achievements, which, as if are recognized and approved at the international level. According to him, the result of a correct, consistent economic policy is that the investment environment and social background in the country are improving day by day.
For note: On the day Ivanishvili spoke about the country’s sound economic policies, achievements and prospects, the Georgian currency lari reached a historic high of depreciation. In particular, our “international partner” Bloomberg has depreciated GEL against USD up to 3.12 …
Is the former Prime Minister’s statement on the effectiveness of the ruling team relevant to the situation, what is the first twenty of the electoral voter list announced by him in the light of the existing political challenges, and what awaits the country in view of all this? Human rights activist Nana Kakabadze talks to “Georgia and the world”.
-, Mrs. Nana, while presenting the first twenty of the “Georgian Dream” electoral list, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party chairperson, said that the world recognizes the correct economic policy of the government. According to him, this is an achievement that is reflected on the image of the country, but the main thing for him is the recognition of the Georgian people, which gives hope for victory in the upcoming elections. Unfortunately, on the day we heard this statement, GEL broke the historical record of depreciation; However, the most important thing here is that today the exchange rate of the national currency is not set by the National Bank of Georgia, but by international organizations. Is Georgia an economically successful and independent country and what do you think about the first platoon of the Dream electoral list, which the former Prime Minister so proudly named us?
-, Let’s start by circumstance that today Georgia is facing two main problems: Territorial integrity, that is the first and paramount issue for our country, and the second – economic poverty. These problems were not mentioned when presenting the first twenty of the “Georgian Dream” electoral list. Bidzina Ivanishvili’s speech did not show that Georgia is a country that has lost 22% of its territories and is in the midst of a severe economic crisis. At this meeting, the education of the nominated candidates was emphasized; Someone studied at Harvard College, someone listened to lectures at the Sorbonne, someone has a doctorate from a German university … It’s such an insult to the country that you are looking for people educated abroad to come to power and ignore educated people in your own country, but you ignore it. What is the main thing: who attended the lectures where and with what certificate did he return to his homeland, what experience does he have, what skills, what vision, etc.? Did any of them from the presented twenty talk about what they will do, for example, to resolve the conflicts, how will they get the country out of even the heaviest and most devastating tensions with Russia? Has anyone talked specifically about how to imagine overcoming the economic crisis, reviving agriculture, employing people, creating jobs? To do this, what strategy do they have?
By the way, not only the first twenty, but also the invited guests were a kind of litmus test for me, which once again made it clear that the attitude of the Georgian Dream towards the people and the country is very cynical …
-, What do you mean?
-, Remember who was sitting at the nomination. Among the guests were not those deserving people who, since the Soviet era and continued through the hardest years of Sadakshvili’s bloody regime, have selflessly fought for the country’s freedom. Not a single deserving person in Georgian politics sat there. . . Instead, there were those whose names probably no one would have known had it not been for the state media: there were Georgian Dream-supporting athletes, “artists” and a bearded boy who was remembered by the public with a strange phrase: “My sun.” By the way, why the later was there- I do not understand. Perhaps this is their level of state thinking, the meter and landmark of society.
As for the fact that on the very day when Bidzina Ivanishvili talked a lot about the “successful” economic policy of the government and GEL reached the record of depreciation, I will probably say anything new if I repeat that this government, like the previous government, did everything in recent years for the country has finally lost its economic leverage and the minimal economic independence that more or less contributed to the strength of GEL. As a result, GEL is only formally the national currency and is in fact a supplement to the USD , and its purchasing power is determined not by the Georgian government, as it is a normal practice in a sovereign state, but by the world financial mafia. . .
-, What does it give to the government that, in addition to political, it does not have minimal economic independence as well?
-, In general, such governments need neither political nor economic independence, because it all requires responsibility. They only need a guarantee of power, they take these guarantees and in return give up any independence. This is a kind of agreement. As for the first platoon of the electoral list, for me it was a direct message to the people that one of the most important facts defined by the constitution of the country, which implies that the source of power of the government is the people, is neglected. In fact, they told us that this constitutional reservation is a bluff, and the source of power for the ruling team is, in fact, an external force that dictates what kind of education, experience, thinking and worldview people we should have at the head of the government. That was what the first twenty was aiming for, and that is why the government officials said at the time of the presentation that the candidates did not even receive education here, but somewhere in the West. In my opinion, it was a very disgraceful presentation and, above all, insulting. . .
-, What perspective do you think the government and the state have with this political course, what will we achieve in the future?
-, I am convinced of one thing: the government, which is in such a slavish state with its Western political guarantors, that criminals have been recognized as political prisoners, will not be able to revive the economy, establish normal and truly partnerships and friendly relations with its “partners”, and most importantly, fail in this particular situation to regulate situation with Russia. I am not saying that this already means the existence of a prospect of solving territorial problems. As for the economy and the depreciation of the lari again, it may mean nothing to the oligarchs, but it will throw ordinary citizens into a really bad day. In a country where the crop grows three times a year, has the greatest agrarian potential and resources, the challenge of such economic misery simply needs to be managed, serious efforts must be made to do so. “Georgian Dream” has succeeded in this and the result is obvious – today Georgia is the poorest, most degraded, unsuccessful and hopeless country in the region, which is being pushed into a great abyss not only by ignorance, but also by purposeful policies …
-, One and a half months remain before the elections. What will these elections change?
-, The fate of this election has already been decided and even thinking about change is superfluous for one simple reason: everything is agreed, everything is redistributed and everyone knows it. Among them are the people who know the most: If people come to the polls, change is inevitable. People, of course, have to go to the polls, but I do not really hope for change. On October 31, there will be a play that will sign the already agreed political configuration. As for the perspective, unfortunately, I expect that the crisis will deepen in political, economic or other directions. The reason for saying this is that they are no longer even formally focused on the real problems of the country and the people. They are focused only on robbery and bankruptcy of the country … This is what “Georgian Dream” showed once again with its “twenty” and it was a real nightmare
Interviewed by Jaba Zhvania
