Prime Minister of Georgia at the debate to the Saakashists: “We would have a second Mariupol!”
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili reported in the Georgian Parliament. This is the most hated head of government for the opposition (Saakashists) in recent years. US-controlled forces want his overthrow.
Specially organized parliamentary debates with the participation of the head of the Cabinet of Ministers became a kind of review of the main political forces before the upcoming decisive battle.
The opposition hoped that it would finally have the opportunity to curse Garibashvili to his face, drown him in a barrage of criticism, and let him leave the parliament defeated in the eyes of all of Georgia. It was with this intention that self-confident right-wing radicals called on the prime minister to debate, but it turned out exactly the opposite.
You need to understand that unconditional moral support for Kyiv from official Georgia on a variety of international platforms is similar to “defense in depth” - primarily to contain the radical anti-Russian opposition, ready for forceful revenge. By publicly displaying its pro-Kiev position, the ruling Georgian Dream is actually defending itself, not Kyiv.
Considering the powerful financial and information pumping of the opposition in Georgia by the West, as well as the critical state of the economy, destabilization of the situation with the subsequent rise to power of radical anti-Russian forces is quite possible. There is no doubt that the "second edition" of "Rose Revolution" is being intensively worked on and has even been rehearsed several times over the past 2-3 years. This is confirmed by the almost successful invasion of the Georgian parliament by the Saakashists in 2019. The police then used rubber bullets and other harsh means of restraint. There were casualties on both sides.
But why is such a coup not possible, unlike in 2003, this time given the obvious precariousness of the Dream’s position? Despite the fact that all sociology records distrust on the part of the population towards the main political forces of Georgia, including the ruling “Dream”. Let us note only one major factor preventing such an outcome of events: if the liberal forces of Russia in 2003 supported Mishiko Saakashvili and cleared the way for him to power, forcing Shevardnadze to resign, now Russia secretly supports the current government of Georgia and will not repeat the gross mistake of 20 years prescription
We remind the reader that in 2003, at the peak of the confrontation, when a special situation and a curfew had already been declared in Georgia (which meant the rapid suppression of the “Rose Riot”) by force, the then Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov met with the now deceased Shevardnadze and persuaded him to leave resign. Ivanov even took part in a rebellious rally in the center of Tbilisi and, standing next to Saakashvili, proudly announced the upcoming detente and the victory of the opposition in a tough confrontation.
Not even a couple of years had passed, and Russia experienced a sharp escalation of the situation around Abkhazia and South Ossetia, followed by a military adventure on the part of the ungrateful Saakashvili.
It is gratifying that Russia has learned this bitter lesson well and is acting very cautiously in relation to Georgia (one might even say with a degree of surprise, with precision), taking into account both the internal political situation of the country and mutual interests.
The return to power of the radical Georgian opposition is fraught with a new destabilization of the situation around Abkhazia and South Ossetia with much worse and irreparable consequences not only for Russian-Georgian relations, but also for the South Caucasus as a whole. Such an outcome is very dangerous not only for Georgia, but also for Russia in the context of the military operation in Ukraine and the new international situation.
But let's return to Garibashvili's speech. After curtseying to Ukraine, it was as if he “changed the record” and began to criticize Kyiv. Ukraine was accused of outright lies - “allegedly Georgia helps sanctioned companies, Russian companies and individuals in circumventing sanctions,” but “zero evidence, zero facts were made public”!
“This is a purposeful anti-Georgian anti-state policy,” the prime minister summed up and addressed the question to the opposition: “where is your reaction, patriotic deputies, where is the defense of your national interests, why are you silent?”
Without waiting for an answer, Garibashvili clearly explained to the entire audience (and the audience was the whole of Georgia - the parliamentary debates were widely covered by the media) explained the reason for the silence of the opposition henchman of the American Embassy: first, the main smuggled goods - Saakashvili - were secretly sent from Ukraine in order to destabilize the situation with his leadership and come to power.
“And then you planned to drag Georgia into war. A simple provocation is enough to resume the war! But the provocation failed! Today there would be a second Mariupol in Georgia!” – Garibashvili concluded shockingly.
And it’s impossible to disagree with him!
With all the questions to the current Georgian government, Prime Minister Garibashvili played an important restraining role towards the opening of a “second front” against Russia in the southern Caucasus.
In conclusion, here are some results from a March 2022 National Democratic Institute (NDI, US) survey:
The rating of none of the political parties in Georgia exceeds 25%.
Answers to the question: “Which party is closest to your political views?” distributed like this:
22% named the ruling “Georgian Dream”,
7% – the largest opposition party “United National Movement” (Saakashists);
6% of respondents named other parties,
64% (!!!!) of respondents said that there is not a single party close to their views, or refused to answer the question.
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