"Georgian Dream got hysterical" - Experts assess ruling party's statement

Experts on Georgian Dream’s statement

“Georgian Dream is hysterical — they had 12 years to hold the so-called ‘National Movement’ accountable, but now the statute of limitations has long expired, and I don’t think anyone will believe this absurdity,” stated political scientist Gia Khukhashvili in response to the August 20 statement by the ruling party of Georgia’s political council.

Georgian experts believe that Georgian Dream’s statement is populism and hypocrisy. According to them, the ruling team needs this only for pre-election publicity, and they won’t even remember it afterward.

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Georgian Dream claims that achieving a constitutional majority will significantly strengthen “family values and the protection of minors.”

Experts’ assessment of the ruling party’s statement

Gia Khukhashvili, a political scientist:

“When you’ve been in power for 12 years, constantly discussing the same issues and then make such a statement after 12 years, it’s unserious and, moreover, laughable. I don’t think anyone will believe this absurdity.

Another issue causing concern about their mindset is their reference to the ‘National Movement’ and its satellites, effectively declaring all their political opponents as satellites.

They label any party or citizen critical of the government as ‘Nazis.’ This statement is aimed at establishing a one-party system where any dissenting opinion will be considered as serving a criminal party. This is all threadbare.

The authorities realize that they won’t succeed in elections with a positive agenda, so they are following a well-established pattern used in Russia. If you look at the rhetoric and points of this statement, it mirrors what Russia and Belarus have done. There was an attempt to do the same in Ukraine, but it failed. The so-called defense of false traditions, jingoistic patriotism, pseudo-religious messages—all of this is present in the statement.”

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Effectively, Georgian Dream has announced the foundation of its election campaign. Now, it all depends on the opposition—how successfully it can expose this farce and show that the claims in this statement are false. The authorities’ plans have nothing to do with peace or civil unity; instead, they are aimed at further dividing society and pushing it to the brink of civil conflict, to once again create divisions and incite hatred among people.

The worst form of war is civil war, and with this statement, “Georgian Dream” is pushing Georgian society towards exactly that, which is deeply saddening.

This is all aimed at electoral goals. I assure you that after the elections, they will completely forget what was said in this statement. This is yet another attempt at brainwashing. I have great hope that our society, with its wisdom, will not fall for this bait again, as it has in the past.

Talking about this now is unserious and laughable. It means that the only purpose of this statement is to deceive the Georgian public and to pay tribute to that very small group of fanatics who still thirst for the blood of the National Movement.

In reality, “Georgian Dream” is not a party of peace; on the contrary, it is a party of war—the worst kind of war, civil strife.

This propaganda attack requires not just counter-propaganda. The opposition needs to establish a dialogue with the public, to explain in a language that people understand that all of this is a lie and a farce. This requires a lot of work. What the opposition is doing today is not enough. They need to work harder, and most importantly, in an interactive mode.

People have questions that need to be answered not with lofty political language, but in a way that is understandable to them. Ultimately, this statement reveals that “Georgian Dream” is in a state of hysteria. They are raising the stakes as high as possible and going all in. When does someone go all in? When they are scared, confused, and acting with uncertainty. Therefore, this statement demonstrates the weakness of “Georgian Dream” more than its strength.

Vakhtang Dzabiradze, expert:

“Right now, ‘Georgian Dream’ doesn’t have any other way to connect with the public except by scaring them with the ‘National Movement.’ Their only strategy in this election is to make extreme claims, like calling for unconstitutional actions. It’s been 12 years since they came to power.

If they really believed the ‘National Movement’ was such a threat, they could have acted earlier, but it wasn’t necessary for them then. Now, they’re using it as a PR tactic because they have no other way to win over voters.

There’s a part of society that strongly dislikes the ‘National Movement,’ and ‘Georgian Dream’ is trying to bring those voters back. But with new parties like ‘Lelo’ and ‘For Georgia’ coming up, ‘Georgian Dream’ is facing problems, which is why they’re pushing this issue harder.

These statements show that ‘Georgian Dream’ has no other topic to discuss with voters. They keep harping on about the ‘National Movement,’ its return to power, and supposed threats.

Okay, they’ll condemn them. But most of the key figures in the ‘National Movement,’ like Mikheil Saakashvili, are already in jail. I’m not sure who else they plan to go after. If ‘Georgian Dream’ bans the ‘National Movement,’ a new party will just form, and its supporters will back the new group. What will they actually achieve? It’s all just fantasy!

If ‘Georgian Dream’ wants to ban all parties, they might be able to, but that would be a dictatorship. And in that case, we can forget about democracy and dignity.

Right now, ‘Georgian Dream’ is just trying to divert attention and talk about anything and everything. They’re talking about a constitutional majority not because they think they’ll get one, but to make sure the public and our partners don’t doubt them. That’s why they keep bringing it up. ‘Georgian Dream’ is using the tactic of ‘the best defense is a good offense.’

This is off the table. The problem for ‘Georgian Dream’ isn’t getting a constitutional majority; it’s getting a simple majority. They’re struggling to secure 76 seats. So, what constitutional majority are they even talking about?

All of this is a bluff because the constitution already says that if territorial integrity is restored, a second chamber (upper and lower chambers of parliament) will be created, and so on. This has already been discussed. Just restore territorial integrity first. But how do they plan to do that? That’s the real question. A new myth is that ‘Georgian Dream’ can restore territorial integrity. But can they? This is a real issue for ‘Georgian Dream,’ and I’m not sure their statements are convincing anyone right now.”

Guram Imnadze, lawyer:

“What have we learned from today’s lengthy statement by ‘Georgian Dream’:

1. Even they don’t trust the GORBI polls that supposedly show them winning the election. Now they’re begging people to vote for them by stirring up fears of war and making vague promises;
2. They’re admitting themselves that there haven’t been proper, healthy elections in the country all this time;
3. We’ve realized that after 12 years in power, they still see the previous government as their main problem. Yet, they’ve managed to integrate the former regime’s financiers, judges, controlled prosecutors, and police just fine.”

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“Bidzina does not see himself as an individual person, not even as the leader of the country. He thinks of himself as Georgia”.

What we didn’t understand from this statement:

1. How do they plan to address the social and economic problems our population faces, such as rising prices and inflation?
2. What are their plans for education and healthcare—so that foreign education isn’t just for the privileged and going abroad for medical treatment isn’t seen as escaping the local healthcare system?
3. We also didn’t get how they intend to tackle corruption and deal with the elites who’ve gotten rich off the people.
4. How do they plan to advance Euro-integration, which should be the foundation of our democracy and economic development?

In essence, this statement only serves to further divide our society, deepen the rift between neighbors, city dwellers and rural residents, and even family members—all to prolong their own economic and political gain.

This wave of hatred and lies needs to be stopped in October, so that no politician dares to manipulate peace, traditions, and our emotions again.

Vakhushti Menabde, constitutional expert:

“‘Georgian Dream’ has issued a statement explaining why it needs a constitutional majority. They outline three objectives, but all three could be achieved even with just 76 deputies.

Without delving into a content analysis, here’s the gist:

Declaring the entire ‘National Movement’ unconstitutional — the government still fully controls the Constitutional Court and can easily direct it to make such a ruling;
Passing a constitutional law on ‘family values’ — even if this were passed as a regular law, the Constitutional Court wouldn’t overturn it;
Amending the constitution after restoring territorial integrity — it’s clear this is just a fabricated reason.

There’s also a fourth point, but we don’t know what it is. What do you think it could be?”