Opinion from Tbilisi: Mdinaradze resignation ‘prelude to Kobakhidze’s downfall’
Opinion on Mdinaradze’s resignation
According to political analyst Gia Khukhashvili, Georgian Regional Development Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze’sdeparture from politics is not simply the end of one politician’s career, but part of a process whose ultimate target is Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. Khukhashvili likened Kobakhidze’s current position to that of “a child left home alone”.
Earlier, Regional Development Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said he was stepping down from his post and leaving politics altogether. He announced the decision at a briefing at the government administration, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.
Gia Khukhashvili: “This is a logical continuation of the processes already under way. Mdinaradze himself is of little interest. The main question here concerns Kobakhidze. Whose prime minister is he now?! The only subordinate he had was Mdinaradze. There is no one else in the government under his authority.
Kobakhidze is now like a child left home alone: he can do foolish things, but no one will let him do anything meaningful. Accordingly, Mdinaradze’s resignation is a prelude to Kobakhidze’s ultimate downfall, a kind of preview, and nothing more. Mdinaradze himself was of no real significance; the true target of his resignation is Kobakhidze.
Kobakhidze had already been lined up to be pushed out for quite some time. I use that term because this is characteristic of [ruling party founder] Bidzina Ivanishvili. Kobakhidze has now been left ‘home alone’, because the government is purely technocratic. No one in the government answers to him or has listened to him for a long time. It is a technocratic government with no political component left.
I am not predicting that this will happen tomorrow or the day after, because Bidzina Ivanishvili naturally needs to saddle Kobakhidze with the blame for the problems that have accumulated recently and send him on his way carrying that baggage. Ivanishvili has to gain something from his departure, after all. When he decides to do that is another matter. But there can be no doubt that Kobakhidze has been left ‘home alone’: one only has to look at the composition of the government to see that
As for Mamuka Mdinaradze, after leaving the State Security Service, he effectively held only nominal positions and was left in limbo. In reality, his entire career ‘odyssey’ was part of the process of isolating Kobakhidze. We have now reached a point where Kobakhidze has no real control over anything, and Mdinaradze was the only person left in the government he could talk to.
So Kobakhidze is a child left home alone who still has matches in his hands, but I doubt anyone will let him start a fire. Mdinaradze’s resignation means nothing in itself; it is merely a prelude to Kobakhidze being pushed out.”
