Ruling party head lauds former PM’s merits in response to Politico article
Kobakhidze’s comments followed an article published by Politico on Tuesday, which claimed Ivanishvili was “widely known to be pulling the strings of the ruling Georgian Dream party he founded”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, had replaced a “bloody”, “anti-Western”, “anti-European regime” in Georgia led by the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the United National Movement party.
Kobakhidze’s comments followed an article published by Politico on Tuesday, which claimed Ivanishvili was “widely known to be pulling the strings of the ruling Georgian Dream party he founded”.
In his response, the party official said Ivanishvili had donated $3 billion in charity “for the benefit of the country and its citizens”, before entering politics in 2011 and replacing the “bloody regime” of UNM in elections a year later.
You remember that until 2012, a bloody regime operated in the country and killed a lot of people. Business racketeering, torture of people, inhumane treatment, transfer of territories to Russia, seizing of TV stations - that is what the previous Government did”, Kobakhidze said.
He also said Ivanishvili had brought into power a team under which Georgia first signed the Association Agreement with the EU in 2014, followed by a free trade agreement with the bloc, visa-free travel for the Schengen Area and was now about to be granted the EU membership candidate status.
Someone will pay money in some newspaper and Bidzina Ivanishvili will be mentioned negatively, [but] it has no significance”, the party head added.
Kobakhidze said Ivanishvili’s “overthrowing” of the UNM Government had been followed by the establishment of a Government “compatible with Western standards and values”, and called the Politico article “shameful”.
Ivanishvili left the party and politics in 2021 by saying his "mission" had been "accomplished".
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday highlighted financial investment by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, into the country’s western region of Adjara, in comments at the Parliament.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said there was “no evidence” that the former prime minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili influenced domestic political processes or interfered “in any way”.
Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili has told Entrepreneur online magazine that he will donate 90 per cent of his material assets worth 1.5 billion USD, except those with credit or other obligations, to the Cartu Charity Foundation. He stated that the purpose of the assets ‘cannot be changed’ in the process of management or alienation, because most of them ‘are not ordinary business projects’ but projects which are targeted for the development of individual branches, or even entire regions, and are designed to ensure improvements in economic, tourism and other fields.
"I have made the decision to finally retire from politics and fully distance myself from the reins of power. I am leaving the post of party chairman, as well as the party itself and am returning to my pre-2011, private lifestyle. I will turn 65 years old in just a few weeks, and this is one of the important factors in making the decision to retire from politics,” Ivanishvili said, adding that the step ‘which is dictated by the desire to advance young people to the forefront...will not only not weaken, but will, in fact, further strengthen the ruling party.’
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday was elected the honorary Chair of the GD party at the congress meeting of the ruling party.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, who was earlier today elected the honorary Chair of the GD party, said the ruling party had the opportunity to “fully protect” Georgia’s national identity, restore the state sovereignty and territorial integrity, put Georgia in the ranks of high-income countries by 2030, and join the European Union.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Saturday said the “main goal, mission and dream” of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former PM and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, before and after coming into politics, were the unification of the country.