Bidzina Ivanishvili, Founder and Honorable Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party delivered a speech at the opening of the party’s election campaign on July 16.
Here is the full speech as delivered:
Greetings ladies and gentlemen,
I welcome our fellow citizens, who must once again play a decisive role in October and protect Georgia’s bright future.
I recall 2012, when the Georgian Dream defeated the National Movement from the opposition and introduced a fundamental turning point in the country’s development. In 2012, we consigned to the past the regime whose hallmark was human torture, prisons full of illegal prisoners, business racketeering, seizure of television stations, election-rigging, and loss of control over Georgian territories.
Thanks to the unprecedented unity of the Georgian people, we defeated the bloody regime in 2012 and thought that the National Movement could never lay claim to a return to power. However, as it turned out, their roots run deep, and they represent the network of agents of the global force we now refer to as the Global War Party. It is the result of the Global War Party’s protection that we must fight this evil to this day.
The fight against evil has been continuously underway since 2012. This battle ended with the victory of Georgia and its sovereignty in 2016, 2020, and 2021. Despite attempts planned in advance, the National Movement and its protectors ultimately had to accept the results of the elections in all three cases.
Georgia faces the 26 October elections under similar circumstances. In the parliamentary elections of 26 October Georgia will doubtlessly defeat the forces that have been frantically trying to bring unrest to the country and drag the country into a war for the past four years. The Georgian Dream will once again defeat the network of agents; the Party of Peace will defeat the Party of War.
For the collective National Movement and its protectors, this is the last attempt to bring unrest to Georgia and open a second front. For the Georgian Dream, this is a decisive battle to finally consolidate peace in Georgia, to end the radicalism and polarization that is artificially imposed from outside, to maintain peace, stability, and economic progress, to protect national dignity and, as a result, to preserve Georgia’s European perspective.
This year’s elections are distinguished by one thing. Georgian voters have never been so familiar with the political events taking place in and around Georgia over the years. Under such circumstances, today it is even easier for the Georgian people to make a choice. The result is that today, the Georgian Dream has the highest support since 2012, garnering the trust of approximately 60 percent of the population.
Despite grave challenges and the utmost pressure, during the past four years we have kept peace in the country, doubled the country’s nominal economy in USD, and received EU membership candidate country status. All of this was made possible by the support of the Georgian public, which, despite numerous waves of disinformation and manipulation, made no mistakes and protected Georgia from the tragedy that, unfortunately, unfolded in Ukraine.
There is no doubt that the population of Georgia will hold the 26 October elections without mistakes as well and the Georgian Dream will yet again get the majority of seats in the Parliament. In this case, however, this is not enough. We need an exceptionally solid victory tantamount to constitutional majority to finally put an end to the War Party, the agent network, radicalism, polarization, and liberal fascism in Georgia, in order for Georgia to irreversibly continue its peaceful development and economic progress and achieve European standards of welfare, which is a necessary condition for the country’s accession to the European Union.
In order to ensure the irreversible development of the country, it is imperative for the collective National Movement to be held fully accountable to the Georgian public and the law. After the elections, they will have to answer for all the crimes they committed during their time in power, especially for carrying out their instructions in 2008 and dragging the country into war, which cost our country the temporary loss of two historical regions. We lost control over 125 settlements, 412 of our citizens died, up to 2,000 people were injured and maimed, and 26,000 of our compatriots became displaced in their own homeland as a result of the war. That is why we need maximum public legitimacy.
Today, Georgia does not have the luxury to risk sacrificing our country. One misstep is enough for the traditional New Year’s fireworks to be replaced by Lomjaria’s fireworks. In order never to face such a critical choice again, it is necessary to pacify our country and to put an end to the network of agents, radicalism, and polarization, at which point our country will continue to progress and develop at a rapid pace.
Unfortunately, specific forces refuse to give up on their thoughts of a second front, which, according to their calculations, should change the difficult situation on the first front. It is the result of the lobbying for the second front that unprecedented pressure has been exerted on Georgia for several years, picking up the pace since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
The Global War Party enjoys significant influence over today’s American and European bureaucracy, which creates a perception among the Georgian public that Georgia has a conflict with the American state and the European Union. However, once the war in Ukraine is over, interests will shift, and these perceptions will disappear in an instant.
The desire of the Global War Party is clear. Having seen for themselves that we will not get involved in the war and that we will not sacrifice Georgia to share Ukraine’s fate, they have one last attempt to return the network of agents, the union of people with no homeland, the collective National Movement to power, which will take this step immediately upon receiving the relevant instructions. That is why they are lobbying the National Movement, old and new – Saakashvili, Gvaramia, Zourabichvili, Khazaradze, Gakharia, Bokeria, and other politicians with no homeland who will agree to carry out any instructions. “Either you fight, or you leave” – this attitude is completely unacceptable, and the Georgian people will respond appropriately on 26 October.
It is clear to everyone that in case of joining the war, Georgia will suffer worse consequences even than Ukraine. Avoiding these consequences is the primary objective, which will be finally resolved on 26 October with another victory of the Georgian Dream.
We must endure one year at most, at which point global and regional political interests as well as interests concerning Georgia will fundamentally change. The ongoing war in Ukraine will end in one year at the latest, and if the Republicans win the US presidential elections, the war might end even in January. Therefore, the main thing is to make the most of this brief period as once the war ends, all the misunderstandings with the United States and Europe will immediately become a thing of the past and Georgia will become a completely different object of interest for global political players.
Georgia is developing consistently, including in terms of strengthening its strategic economic significance. Historically, Georgia connected the West and the East, Europe and Asia. We are doing our best to define Georgia’s role in the Middle Corridor project. I would like to thank the Chinese authorities, which have shown special support to Georgia. The Georgian Dream team and I personally have spent years laying the groundwork for this result.
I would like to stress that deepening our cooperation with China is not an alternative to cooperation with the United States and the European Union. On the contrary, it is a complementary factor for the joint cooperation that should deepen in the coming years. In order for Georgia to develop its connecting function in terms of trade-economic ties, it is necessary to cooperate with both sides of the trade-economic relations – the West and the East. I am certain that this effort of the Georgian government will be appreciated in the West as soon as next year. I am sure everyone will understand that by maintaining peace in Georgia, we have benefitted them as well as Georgia.
The parliamentary elections of 26 October are a referendum. This is a referendum between war and peace, slavery and dignity, returning to a dark past and progress, complete hopelessness and Georgia’s European perspective. I am certain that the vast majority of the Georgian people will support peace, dignity, and prosperity on 26 October, which is a precondition for the physical and spiritual survival of the Georgian people and their European future.
Onwards to Europe, only with peace, dignity, and prosperity – this is the only choice with no alternative offered to Georgian voters by the Georgian Dream.
