Saakashvili to leave politics? What lawyers and teammates say
Saakashvili to leave politics?
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, currently serving a prison sentence and now in a clinic, no longer sees himself in Georgian politics and “is no longer interested in this.” This was reported by Saakashvili’s lawyer Shalva Khachapuridze. According to him, Saakashvili will make a statement himself at some point.
According to Nika Melia, chairman of the United National Movement party, this may be a lawyers’ strategy to send the ex-president for medical treatment abroad.
Lawyer’s Position
As Khachapuridze states, he told Saakashvili about Bidzina Ivanishvili’s letter, to which the ex-president did not respond:
“He said in conversation with me, “I’m not really interested in Georgian politics anymore,” that he no longer sees himself in Georgian politics. That he is leaving Georgian politics.”
A presenter of the Palitranews TV program asked the Khachapuridze if this might be intended to sway the government to send Saakashvili abroad for medical treatment. In Khachapuridze’s words:
“In such a situation, there are many cases in political history when the state takes humane steps, and I can list many examples.”
What does the chairman of the party say?
Nika Melia, chairman of the United National Movement, says the process is already hurting the opposition.
“His position and attitude are important to me and to you as well. It’s just that what is happening now pours more and more water on Ivanishvili’s mill…Tomorrow Saakashvili will be visited by a representative of our party. However, I repeat, I perceive the context very adequately from many points of view, and I don’t want, even from my very correct position, voluntarily or involuntarily to interfere in sending Mikheil Saakashvili abroad. I have no right,” Nika Melia said.
The son of the ex-president, Eduard Saakashvili, talked about his father’s changing role in Georgian politics on TV Pirveli. As he said, the issue of his father’s health should be depoliticized because “Misha’s role in Georgian politics for the future is unclear, and I think he himself is aware of this.” According to Eduard, Saakashvili acknowledges that for many he is no longer the leader of the future.
“I don’t know what else needs to happen for him to return to government or anything like that. It’s a little hard for me to imagine, and I think he understands it himself. When I visit my father, he only watches Ukrainian television. I think he understands that he can have a better future there than here,” Eduard Saakashvili stated.
Another of the ex-president’s lawyers, Valery Gelbakhiani, said that Mikheil Saakashvili “is basically leaving Georgian politics.”
His mother, Giuli Alasania, also commented on her son’s departure from Georgian politics. She believes it to be genuine, because when “several people have the same opinion, can’t they come to it at the same time?”
Saakashvili to leave politics?
