"Georgian President freed herself from 'Ivanishvili complex' and called a spade a spade" - Opinion

Georgian President and Bidzina Ivanishvili

Political scientist and former advisor of Bidzina Ivanishvili Gia Khukhashvili stated on the Palitranius program that Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has finally gotten rid of a “Bidzina complex” and “called a spade a spade,” regarding Zurabishvili’s interview with Le Monde newspaper, wherein the President said that “Bidzina Ivanishvili is an oligarch who enriched himself in Russia”.

In the interview, she talked about de-oligarchization and the role of Ivanishvili, considered the shadow ruler of Georgia, in the country’s politics. When asked whether she considers Ivanishvili an oligarch, the President replied that “Ivanishvili is the only oligarch in Georgian politics”.

Zurabishvili also said that “Ivanishvili is a representative of the oligarchy enriched in Russia. He believes in Russia’s imminent victory in the bipolar world and has developed his strategy accordingly.”

According to the Georgian president, Ivanishvili may have played a negative role in accelerating the path to the European Union, but he also played an important role in her presidency.

Gia Khukhashvili: “Salome Zurabishvili understands perfectly well that she would not have been able to become president if not for the clear support of Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili personally. Therefore she had to bear this burden.

In the first years she was complex and turned a blind eye to many things. Although I am sure that she did not like what Georgian Dream was doing at that time.

She then overcame the Georgian Dream complex. But she still had certain obligations to Bidzina Ivanishvili. And until the last moment – literally until yesterday – she tried to honor her commitments. But in the end Salome Zurabishvili saw that Bidzina Ivanishvili was in conflict with the interests of the state, he was harming the interests of the state. And she finally freed herself from Bidzina as well.

When there was a legal dispute between Ivanishvili and a Swiss bank, I saw very clearly that Ivanishvili was ready to trade his country for his personal well-being.

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Even today I do not consider Bidzina a “Russian” person. Another thing is that I have given up hope that Bidzina will stop being a hostage of his Russian past. If only because he made an incorrect prediction regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war. Bidzina Ivanishvili is an independent man and does not belong to Russia.

He did have room to maneuver to change policy. But when he predicted last year that Russia would quickly defeat Ukraine and then offer us to sign the “Tract 2.0” [referring to the 1783 Treaty of Georgievo – a treaty on the patronage and supreme authority of the Russian Empire with the united East Georgian kingdom], he seemed to tell Moscow that he would be absolutely loyal and ready to sign the “Tract 2.0″. Apparently, after a false prediction he gave the Kremlin certain guarantees, to which he fidns himself hostage now”