Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen credits Bidzina Ivanishvili with “liberating” Georgia from UNM rule, says his legacy will be written “in golden letters”

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Thursday that Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s founder and Honorary Chair, would be remembered “in golden letters” in Georgia’s modern history. Kaladze credited Ivanishvili with liberating the country from what he described as “the United National Movement’s regime”.

Kaladze made the remarks in response to a journalist’s question about reports alleging that more than 1,500 troll and bot accounts had liked Imedi TV’s May 26 graphic depicting Bidzina Ivanishvili alongside Merab Kostava and Georgia’s first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

“I certainly do not intend to respond to speculation. Through the steps he has taken, Bidzina Ivanishvili will indeed be remembered in Georgia’s modern history in golden letters. We all remember very well what the country was like before 2012. It was not only Mikheil Saakashvili’s regime. We clearly saw what kind of force we were dealing with and what stood behind those internal enemies, stateless individuals, and agents. One man stepped forward, the entire country rallied around him, and in 2012 Georgia was freed from the bloody regime represented by Mikheil Saakashvili and the United National Movement”, the Mayor said.

He further added that both domestic and foreign actors continue to seek a change of Government in order to bring “their agent network to power”.

“Naturally, this fact is unwelcome both to forces inside and outside the country. They are determined to change the Government and bring their agents to power so they can easily make decisions and use our country to advance their own interests. But one thing should not be forgotten: today it is the Georgian people who decide who governs the country and whom they entrust with Georgia’s future”, Kaladze concluded.