Opposition protests placement of section on GD founder Ivanishvili in Georgian history textbook
A history textbook for ninth graders includes a section on the founder of the Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili, as well as on other former or acting state leaders. Photo: tabula.
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Georgian opposition parties are protesting the placement of a section on the founder of the Georgian Dream ruling (GD) ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili in a textbook of history for ninth graders.
Several opposition party leaders have stated that the section is ‘propagandist,’ ‘praising Ivanishvili and the current government, while diminishing the role and achievements of the United National Movement (UNM) while in office.’
Droa opposition party leader Elene Khoshtaria has called on the public to join her protest starting today to remove ‘communist leader Ivanishvili from the textbook.’
Soviet-style horror - idealizing & glorifying our “leaders” & “saviors”@GovernmentGeo will not get away with this filthiness! https://t.co/S57GveNSD3
— Helen Khoshtaria (@Helenkhosh) December 5, 2021
Member of the UNM Zaal Udumashvili says that ‘like people were forced to study the biography of Lenin, the Georgian children will be forced to know the biography of Ivanishvili.’
The GD MPs, however, say that Ivanishvili ‘has done much’ for the country’s development and he ‘really deserves to be in the book.’
Ivanishvili has his place in the Georgian history and the place will be more and more appreciated year-on-year, unlike the place of the former president Mikheil Saakashvili whose ‘heroic activities’ (the offences he has been charged with) are not described in the textbook,” GD MP Aluda Ghudushauri says.
Fellow GD MP Mamuka Mdinaradze stated that 'I do not understand why the opposition is offended. Is it false that Ivanishvili is philanthropist?'
One of the sections from the textbook says that ‘Georgia’s democratic tendencies have become irreversible.’
One of the examples of this was the 2012 parliamentary elections in which the UNM was defeated by the Georgian Dream opposition. A well-known Georgian philanthropist, founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was elected as a prime minister. Despite the change in the government, Georgia’s European course remained the same and was encouraged further. Georgia became an associated member of the EU.’
GD MP Mamuka Mdinaradze says that the opposition raises 'false accusations' against the Ministry of Education. He says that the textbook covers information on all leaders and describes facts. He says that the textbook 'never says' that the August 2008 war was launched by Georgia as the opposition says this. Photo: Mamuka Mdinaradze's Facebook page.
The book includes a short biography of Ivanishvili.
The textbook also says that Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as a president of Georgia back in 2004, and that Saakashvili’s government managed to defeat corruption in almost all fields, carried out reforms and gave a serious blow to the criminal underworld.
The Georgian Education Ministry says that the textbook covers a modern Georgian history and describes historic facts alone, without making any assessments
The ministry claims that the book covers information on Georgian presidents and leaders, topics on the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration process, August 2008 war and other ‘important aspects in the country’s modern history which has nothing to do with propaganda.’
Former Prime Minister of Georgia and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili has told Entrepreneur online magazine that he will donate 90 per cent of his material assets worth 1.5 billion USD, except those with credit or other obligations, to the Cartu Charity Foundation. He stated that the purpose of the assets ‘cannot be changed’ in the process of management or alienation, because most of them ‘are not ordinary business projects’ but projects which are targeted for the development of individual branches, or even entire regions, and are designed to ensure improvements in economic, tourism and other fields.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and the ruling Georgian Dream party members have stated that the decision of the party founder and the head Bidzina Ivanishvili to leave politics is ‘exemplary’, while opposition parties have described the move as ‘irresponsible and an expression of weakness.’
"I have made the decision to finally retire from politics and fully distance myself from the reins of power. I am leaving the post of party chairman, as well as the party itself and am returning to my pre-2011, private lifestyle. I will turn 65 years old in just a few weeks, and this is one of the important factors in making the decision to retire from politics,” Ivanishvili said, adding that the step ‘which is dictated by the desire to advance young people to the forefront...will not only not weaken, but will, in fact, further strengthen the ruling party.’
French President Emmanuel Macron has given former Georgian PM and the founder and the current head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili the Order of the Legion of Honor, a top French civil award.