US Senator Jeanne Shaheen has stated that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s return to the country is unlikely ‘to be useful’ and won’t ‘help ease the situation’ in Georgia.
In an interview with the Georgian bureau of Voice of America (VOA), she also noted that after the parliamentary elections in 2012 when the United National Movement (UNM) lost the race and the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party came to power, Saakashvili who was Georgia’s president under the UNM-led government ‘discredited himself.’
Former President Saakashvili was defeated in free and fair elections in 2012. I was an election observer then and I saw how that election was held,” Senator Shaheen said.
She reaffirmed her support for the country and noted that she wants to see a successful Georgia.
I want to see more closeness between the US and Georgia and more help from the US for Georgian people to achieve their goals,” stated Senator Shaheen.
Shaheen has also underscored the importance of reaching an agreement between the ruling and opposition parties for the country ‘to achieve its goals.’
Saakashvili has released a video earlier today claiming that he is in Georgia’s seaside town of Batumi after eight years of political exile and urged the country’s citizens to vote against the ruling party on approaching October 2 municipal elections.
However, the GD has denied Saakashvili’s return to the country and stated that the released video by the former president is fake.
Mikheil Saakashvili is charged with several criminal offences and the ruling party says that he will be arrested ‘as soon as he crosses the border.’