Georgian authorities are going on the offensive: Giorgi Gakharia is elected as the new prime minister
On the morning of September 8, the Georgian parliament approved a new government headed by a new prime minister. As expected, he became the former Minister of Internal Affairs of the republic, Giorgi Gakharia.
Changes in the composition of the government are minimal, but they affect several key figures. Vakhtang Gomelauri, who previously headed the State Security Service of Georgia, became the new head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The post of Minister of Defense was taken by the former prime minister, and now the head of the political council of the Georgian Sword party, Irakli Garibashvili.
It is reported that 98 out of 150 deputies voted for Gakharia’s candidacy.
The new prime minister began his work with a keynote speech about the government's immediate plans.
“We must fully and effectively use the state bureaucracy so that all planned good initiatives, as a result, are conveyed to each of our citizens. We have a lot of good ideas and plans. And now is the time for us to be focused on concrete results, including those measured over time,” said Giorgi Gakharia after the Georgian parliament expressed confidence in the updated composition of the government.
Thus, parliamentarians approved the new prime minister of the republic, the updated composition of parliament and the government program.
At this time, opposition protests began around the parliament building, disagreeing with the new appointments in the government. Several dozen activists, outnumbered by the police cordon and the assembled journalists, crowded at the service entrance for deputies, chanting “Gakharia, go away!”
maydauns: Gakharia, go away!
Realizing full well that Gakharia would not please the maydauns, the protesters began to prepare a “corridor of shame.”
one of the cordones of the Georgian Parliament building by activists
One of those subjected to Maidan obstruction was Emzar Kvitsiani, a deputy from the Alliance of Georgian Patriots, who left the parliament building and advocates resuming direct dialogue with Russia.
Making his way through the exalted crowd, Kvitsiani was booed by activists and called a “slave of Russia.” In response, the hot-tempered Kvitsiani covered the scolders with a curly Georgian obscenity and promised to crush their faces. Kvitsiani even tried to get into fist fights with the most pestering of his detractors, but was stopped by the police, although he demanded that law enforcement officers not restrain him.
police protect deputy Kvitsiani from maydauns
“What are they! – the incensed Kvitsiani shouted to the journalists. – I left the parliament meeting when I realized that there would be no more fundamental discussions, I tried to work in my office, but discovered that the computer was without power. Then he decided to go home, called a taxi, but the driver was unable to get to the parliament building. I had to walk to the car that was waiting at a distance. And those gathered booed me and began to insult me...”
Kvitsiani explained his attempt to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the protesters with his personal emotionality and the fact that he had to push away the advancing protesters.
Activists, in turn, called Kvitsiani a traitor and demanded that he surrender his mandate in order to bring him to justice.
According to the press, a group of deputies of the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia party came to the aid of their comrade-in-arms, in order to also take part in the assault and expel the protesters, but were stopped by the police.
These Georgian guys are so hot.
The protesters branded the deputies who supported Gakharia’s candidacy with disgrace. “We have no deputies,” they cried, “We have 98 slaves in parliament! Today, another step has been taken towards the Russification of Georgia, which has been carried out by Bidzina Ivanishvili for the fifth year. Ivanishvili and his 98 slaves must understand that we will no longer remain silent!”
To back up their words with visual propaganda, the maydauns dragged a flock of sheep to the walls of parliament, symbolizing the deputies who voted for Gakharia’s candidacy.
the rams drove the rams
Let us recall that one of the immutable demands of the protesters, supported by the opposition parties “United National Movement” and “European Georgia”, was the resignation of Interior Minister Gakharia, who organized a harsh crackdown on anti-Russian and anti-government protests in Tbilisi at the end of June 2019.
After the street and parliamentary opposition realized that Gakharia would not only not resign, but would even become the main contender for the post of head of the Georgian government, new rallies began around the parliamentary house. True, this time, remembering what happened two months earlier, the Maidan youth were afraid to resort to extreme methods.
It is interesting that against the backdrop of the protests on September 7–8, the opposition parties of “Euro-Georgians” and Saakashists stopped their boycott of parliamentary hearings of candidates for the new government of Georgia, which they announced on September 3. However, the parliamentary opposition did not take part in the voting, but came up with a legal way for street oppositionists to enter the parliament hall, which the Georgian press called a “war of passes.”
In particular, the protesters demanded access to the microphone of a group of street lunatics led by Mako Gomuri, who lost an eye in the June battles with the police, who became a symbol of the summer protest “today we are all one-eyed” - with her left eye always covered with tape and the inscription “20%” as a sign of that , that “20% of Georgia’s territory is “occupied by Russia.”
Today we are all one-eyed! well, almost everything
Speaking about the new Prime Minister Gakharia, observers suggest that with this appointment the ruling Georgian Dream party and its oligarch Ivanishvili are sending a signal to the street and parliamentary opposition that the position of head of government is no longer a technical one, and the main political force of the country is going to get rid of what has stuck to it. label "inert".
The opposition is rushing about in impotent rage, but cannot change the situation, trying to put pressure on the emotions of parliamentarians, imposing a “war of passes.” It seems as if the opposition cannot recover from the shock. Why?
According to a number of observers, despite all the external intransigence, which often takes aggressive forms, a stable balance of power has developed between the “Georgian dreamers” and the Saakashists from the UNM. For a long period, the existing balance suited both sides, helping them to be on the crest of the wave of the political process.
For some voters, the possibility of the return of the possessed Nazis served as a bogeyman, which was skillfully manipulated by the Georgian Dream. The Saakashists, who cooperated with the “Euro-Georgians,” had guaranteed seats in parliament and the status of the main opposition force.
Judging by recent events, the opposition, partly misled by the results of the first round of the presidential election, has arrogantly crossed a certain conventional line. Along with the obvious mistakes of the authorities, this led to significant shifts in public consciousness, giving rise to the expectation of the arrival of a “third force.”
The Georgian Dream, which usually rests on its laurels, seems to have perked up, sensing danger much earlier than the opposition, which was carried away by storming the corridors of power.
Apparently, the ruling elite of Georgia was offended by the promises of the oppositionists to arrange for them a nice revolution in which they would definitely win, as well as by the inclusion of politicians from the “Georgian Dream” forever with the “dark side”: generals Tsitsianov, Ermolov, Rodionov, Lebed, as well as Putin, Ivanishvili, Gakharia. The list of “enemies of Georgia” was announced by deputy from the “national movement” Nika Melia.
inadequate national deputy Nika Melia
“The performance they staged is a confirmation of the fundamental problem of the National Movement, which is called lies. We understood and expected that today there would be a similar performance, but we respect both their voters and state institutions. That’s why we came here to first of all talk to their voters... They forced people to live in a lie, and we must end this,” said the new Prime Minister of Georgia Gakharia.
Apparently, the main programmatic statement of the new Georgian prime minister should be considered his appeal to the Saakashist deputies from the National Movement, who promised to put him behind bars if he does not resign.
“I am not going anywhere, and I will end you, and the Georgian population and the voters of Georgia will end you. You are an ordinary street opposition, and in 2020 you will remain on the street,” Gakharia threatened his political opponents from the rostrum of parliament.
Thus, the appointment of a successful security minister to the post of Prime Minister of Georgia means that Ivanishvili’s ruling party intends to marginalize and disperse the remnants of the Saakashist party, which is destabilizing the country.
This, of course, does not mean that the political climate in Georgia will change to a more friendly one for Russia in the shortest possible time.
In any case, the removal of the most hostile anti-Russian force from its political field promises to make the government more sane - with the hope of a further warming of relations.
From this point of view, the appointment of security official Gakharia as Prime Minister of the republic can, of course, only be welcomed.
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