Bidzina Ivanishvili – foto Rory Challands CC BY-SA 2.0
For the opposition he never left, he was just behind the scenes. Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the Georgian Dream, entered politics in 2012 and then left after a year as prime minister. In 2018 he returned, only to disappear again. But now he is back on the field for this year’s policies
There’s no two without three: here is the third appearance of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the gray eminence of Georgian politics. Ivanishvili is the oligarch who holds only 30% of the national GDP. The investigations by independent NGOs in recent years they have demonstrated that his economic and personal ties with Russia have never been interrupted, and indeed his investments in the country where he created his power continued even when he had institutional roles in Georgia.
Ivanishvili is indicated as the first recipient of European calls for a de-oligarchization of the country, necessary to create a truly competitive political and economic environment. He is considered the real governor of Georgia, as well as the one who made the prime ministers “dance”. The comings and goings of the top executive post would depend on the wishes of Ivanishvili, who only briefly held the position.
Having taken to the field for the first time with the clear intention of removing the United National Movement team in the 2012 parliamentary elections, he became prime minister of the coalition that had gathered around the Georgian Dream. He resigned in November 2013, officially distancing himself from politics. The cause of this anomalous resignation, after only one year in government, was, according to him, having achieved all the points for which he had been elected.
In 2018, after a five-year hiatus, Ivanishvili returned to politics, taking over the presidency of the Georgian Dream and actively supporting the election of president Salome Zourabishvili.
Zourabishvili was elected, but relations between the party and the president deteriorated to the point that the same party that had proposed her launched her impeachment.
Despite the announcement of his retirement, suspicions that Ivanishvili continued to exert influence behind the scenes, shaping crucial decisions in the country, have never been lacking. Now the return to the field is being included in the framework of the upcoming elections, and evidently the patron of the Dream does not believe that the rear is a sufficient position for the parliamentary elections in 2024.
The position chosen to play his game is that of honorary president of the Dream , a condition that consolidates his role within the party and fuels new speculation about his continued influence on Georgian politics, and possible broadsides in the offing. The party has amended its rules so that the position he holds has an unquestionable political weight.
The poster
Ivanishvili did his “overt speech ” on the meaning of his new role during the year-end congress on December 30 at the party headquarters, explaining what would persuade him to leave what would have been a sort of “divine isolation” from active politics. He cited global challenges and the increasingly complex geopolitical situation around Georgia. He underlined the need to protect Georgia’s national identity, restore sovereignty, unite the country and achieve foreign policy goals, with a main focus on integration into the European Union.
He then explained that his role is fundamental to keeping the governing party functioning. According to his reading of the political picture, the Dream risks becoming a dysfunctional party due to the opposition. Ivanishvili criticized the state of the opposition, accusing it of not being able to counteract any degenerations of the Dream through a healthy and effective control on power. Expressing concerns about the internal organization of the government team, he warned of the potential risk of complacency and weakness in the absence of a functioning opposition.
According to Ivanishvili, with an opposition like this there is no competition, and the Dream could win the elections without even campaigning. Highlighting the strength of his team, Ivanishvili said that the ruling party needs protection from human temptations rather than assistance. While pledging to be the honorary president and main consultant of the Dream, he confirmed Irakli Kobakhidze as president, the only party member who received the patron’s open applause. Ivanishvili sees his mission in creating a new center of gravity for the party, underlining the need for his political and life experience to lead the country towards his goals.
The reactions in the Dream were enthusiastic about the active return of the big boss. Those of the opposition, on the other hand, range from sarcastic to laconic, with comments ranging from “why, did he ever leave?”, to those who hypothesize that the order of taking the field was ordered directly from Moscow . And to those who ask Ivanishvili if he does it to protect himself from the sanctions that have hit various oligarchs, he answers that an open door is being broken down, because in fact, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine he has already been under sanction.
The painting
Ivanishvili’s indictment against the opposition comes after yet another fragmentation of the United National Movement, with Nika Melia who after losing the primaries took away part of the party and created a new political movement. In January 2023, Levan Khabeishvili was elected as party secretary, supported by the old guard of figures linked to the Saakashvili era of the Movement, in particular the former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, who was released after serving his sentence in prison .
2023 was marked by strong tensions in the party, which lost several members. The process of disintegration of the Movement has now been going on for a decade, and has given rise to other parties that today sit in parliament, such as Giga Bokeria’s European Georgia, former child prodigy of the Movement itself. The For Georgia party of Giorgi Gakharia, the former prime minister of the Dream who was ousted at the height of his popularity, comes from an offshoot of the Dream.
In fact, the Georgian political framework as it emerged in the 2012 elections has remained without major new political-cultural offers. The polarization of the period has never been questioned by truly alternative third forces: only various currents of the two main parties have broken away over time and become new political movements. The large coalition around the Dream has disappeared, making its governments increasingly monotonous and less inclusive of different political sensitivities.
We are heading towards the election year with the ranks closing. The Dream played its heaviest card immediately, it is difficult to bring out a big shot of equal weight in the opposition ranks. Certainly not economical: with Ivanishvili’s new entry into the field, the resources of the electoral campaign are now completely unbalanced.
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