Ruling party executive secretary: “no evidence” former PM Ivanishvili influences political processes or interferes “in any way”
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze said “all claims” by the opposition on Ivanishvili being an “oligarch”, or comments about his influence on political processes, were “fake”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said there was “no evidence” that the former prime minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili influenced domestic political processes or interfered “in any way”.
In his remarks over the matter, Mdinaradze said “all claims” by the opposition on Ivanishvili being an “oligarch”, or comments about his influence on political processes, were “fake”.
There is no evidence because this reality does not exist - this fact does not exist, therefore, there is no evidence that Bidzina Ivanishvili influences political processes or interferes in any way. There is no such evidence in nature”, the GD official said.
Mdinaradze also noted Ivanishvili had not funded any political organisation since his exit from politics in 2021, noting the absence of such “evidence to call a person an oligarch” meant the term could not be used for the former politician.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said claims about a return to politics of the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili were “mere speculation”.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Friday rejected the notion that her meeting with a delegation of the European Parliament had tied the deoligarchisation condition for Georgia’s European Union membership status to “solutions tailored to one person”.
In a letter addressed to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said allegations on the Georgian Government being run by the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili were “offensive to me personally and to my country”.
"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.’
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the Georgian government respected its international partners but was making “sovereign decisions in the best interests” of the country and its citizens.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday called on the United States ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan to “be clear in her statements” regarding the issue of deoligarchisation in the country.
The Georgian parliament on Thursday approved the bill on deoligarchisation, a part of the conditions for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status, in its first reading.
Gia Volski, a ruling party MP and the vice speaker of the Georgian parliament, on Thursday said the “main task” of the domestic opposition was to ensure the “destabilisation” of the political environment in the country, after a section of the opposition boycotted a parliament bill proposed for fulfilling European Union-outlined priorities for Georgia.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, had replaced a “bloody”, “anti-Western”, “anti-European regime” in Georgia led by the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili and the United National Movement party.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday was elected the honorary Chair of the GD party at the congress meeting of the ruling party.