Georgian Dream explained Gakharia's appointment as prime minister as a “tribute” to external forces

The appointment of Giorgi Gakharia as Prime Minister of Georgia in 2019 was a kind of tribute of the Georgian Dream to external forces. This was stated by the executive secretary of the ruling party, MP Mamuka Mdinaradze.

Mdinaradze devoted the briefing to accusations of Western interference in the Georgian elections. He mentioned leaders of pro-European opposition parties as “agents” and “executors of tasks” of external forces. Former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia was among them.

According to Mdinaradze, while being interior minister in 2017-2019, Gakharia's “main task” was to “discredit the police and the government.”

The executive secretary of the GM recalled that under Gakharia there were anti-drug raids in the capital's nightclubs, and protests against the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the Pankisi Gorge turned into clashes with the police. “One of Gakharia's most serious treacherous steps” Mdinaradze called the installation of a police post in the village of Chorchana on the line of separation with the Tskhinvali region. He claims that the Interior Minister then wanted to “artificially provoke a new armed confrontation, which most likely could have escalated into a large-scale war” with Russia.

“The key moment” of all this subversion, Mdinaradze says, was ‘Gavrilov's night’ on June 20, 2019.

“Clearly, one has a question - if all this was done by one man, if he was so damaging to the state, how come he was promoted from interior minister to prime minister? The answer is not simple, but it can be considered a kind of tribute paid by us to Gakharia's masters,” Mdinaradze stated. ”However, this decision was especially important for the Georgian Dream team to take Gakharia away from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The reputation of the system, which should be the face of the country, was purposefully destroyed by the aforementioned purposeful provocations,” the politician continued.

He did not name the forces allegedly behind Gakharia. According to him, it is about someone very influential, so much so that the Georgian Dream even today “has to report to them and try as much as possible not to enter into a conflict with them, no matter what”.

Giorgi Gakharia resigned as Prime Minister in February 2021. The reason was disagreements with the party leadership over the arrest of National Movement leader Niki Melia.

Gakharia created his own party, For Georgia. Allegations that Gakharia was acting on instructions from outside, being a member of the government, are groundbreaking. Until now, the Georgian Dream has mostly referred to him as a traitor.

According to an Edison Research poll commissioned by Formula, For Georgia can count on 12% in the elections. A poll commissioned by the pro-government Imedi TV channel gives Gakharia's party just 3.8%.

Reprinted from https://www.newsgeorgia.ge/