Opinion: 'The prime minister's statement is demagoguery and part of election preparations"
Conflict analyst Paata Zakareishvili believes Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s recent statement serves the interests of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, so effectively that it has virtually guaranteed Kobakhidze’s position until the next parliamentary elections.
According to Zakareishvili, the prime minister understands Ivanishvili’s political objectives even better than Ivanishvili himself.
According to Zakareishvili, the claim about “Russophobia” is consistent with Kobakhidze’s political style. He also argues that Georgian Dream’s main objective is to distance the country from the European Union.
Just days before the anniversary of the August 2008 war, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze published a lengthy social media statement on what he described as “Russophobia”. In it, he drew connections between Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Georgia’s domestic politics and the rhetoric of the Georgian opposition. Kobakhidze argued that the “Global War Party” needed the war in Ukraine to “fuel Russophobia among its agents worldwide, including in Georgia.”
Paata Zakareishvili said: “This is a very important, albeit disturbing, text. I am struck by Kobakhidze’s cynicism, audacity and well-crafted demagoguery.
This is clearly a carefully prepared statement that was likely drafted by several people. It operates on multiple levels, but its central message is that Georgia’s problems are purely domestic. Russia has been pushed almost entirely out of the picture. The same is true of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
They are very cleverly trying not to deny that Russia occupied part of Georgia in 2008. Instead, they portray the occupation as the result of the short-sighted and provocative policies of the then ruling United National Movement.
Georgian Dream is preparing for the elections. It fears the opposition may abandon its boycott and decide to take part. Support for Georgian Dream is not growing — it is declining. If the opposition changes course and mobilises voters, more dissatisfied people may go to the polls and vote against Georgian Dream. The ruling party wants to secure more votes, so it is presenting itself as the guarantor of peace.
It is obvious that Georgian Dream cannot ban opposition parties because that would trigger severe sanctions from the West. For Europe, arresting opposition politicians is not as serious as banning political parties. So instead of outlawing them, Georgian Dream will push the Russian factor to the forefront.”
“Europe and the European Union have changed significantly since 2022. Instead of getting into the European boat and saying, ‘Yes, Europe made mistakes in the past, but now it is doing the right thing, and we remain committed to the European path,’ Georgian Dream has done the opposite. It has taken an absurd position. On the one hand, it criticises Europe for failing to respond properly during the 2008 war. On the other, now that Europe has adopted what they themselves describe as a more appropriate approach, they attack it.
It is clear that Georgian Dream does not really want Europe, regardless of the context of the 2008 war. Its main objective is to distance Georgia from the European Union.”
Expert on Kobakhidze’s “Russophobia” remarks
