“Debate - the discussion and examination of ideas - is one of the main pillars of democracy. It allows society to hear diverse perspectives, analyze differing opinions, and make informed choices in favour of the positions it considers most justified,” GD Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze wrote on social networks.
Kobakhidze argued that such a pillar established the foundations of a truly democratic state, where the rule of the people is upheld.
“Debates have taken many forms over the centuries, from public ‘debate squares’ to modern television forums, but their core purpose has remained the same: to allow society to hear different perspectives and make decisions aligned with its values, needs, and views.
In European civilization, where the culture of debate has historically been one of democracy’s pillars, public discourse thrived. Debates occurred across politics, business, environmental protection, culture, and sports, ensuring that citizens were well-informed and able to make thoughtful choices.
Unfortunately, the situation in Europe has gradually deteriorated since 2008, largely due to the growing influence of the so-called Deep State - informal oligarchic governance - on European politics. As the sovereignty of the European Union and individual European states weakened dramatically, and democracy began to decline, agent-driven governance and pseudo-liberal values took deep root across the continent. During this process, informal rulers created artificial issues - such as LGBT and gender identity debates, “green politics,” and others - and presented themselves as the solution providers. In doing so, they diverted public attention from real challenges, deprived people of meaningful choice, and, ultimately, caused European politics to lose one of its most essential pillars: healthy, constructive debate.
Informal rulers, rather than relying on weapons, employ so-called soft methods - ideological and informational pressure on public consciousness - to dominate European countries. Healthy debates, public criticism, and independent analysis directly challenge this objective. As a result, significant time, resources, and effort have been devoted to suppressing these democratic practices. Since 2020 in particular, well-known, highly rated debates in leading European media outlets have been shut down one after another, effectively eliminating opportunities for discussion and the exchange of diverse opinions from public life,” Kobakhidze wrote.
According to the Prime Minister, informal rulers have effectively suppressed dissent and closed the crucial platforms where this dissent could be expressed and shared with the public to undermine European democracy.
“Unfortunately, the plan of informal oligarchic rule to suppress dissent, destroy spaces for debate, and limit public platforms that expose their ideology has partially affected Georgia. Yet, the ‘Deep State’ agents managed only to disrupt the long-standing culture of political, economic, and social debate in the country. Nika Gvaramia became the main instrument for this task. When his patrons realized that public debate made it easy to distinguish truth from lies, they introduced Gvaramia - a completely foreign element - into the media and tasked him with being fully radicalized.
Gvaramia successfully completed this mission, establishing lies, insults, swearing, slander, and hysteria as media norms. He created such a toxic environment that healthy, reasonable people no longer wish to participate in debates, which now inevitably end in insults. This has divided society and deprived citizens of a core democratic right - the opportunity to hear diverse positions and make informed choices. Today, we see, on one hand, a marginalized party unit with no journalistic integrity, and on the other, a media forced to respond constantly to a torrent of disinformation while attempting to fulfil its own role.
Because the goals, actors, and tactics of this artificially created, divided environment are now clear, we are obliged to correct this unhealthy situation. We must restore to the Georgian people the right to debate - one of democracy’s fundamental principles - and prevent informal forces and their “Georgian” agents from imposing their agenda. To ensure that citizens can make informed choices in the future, they must be able to hear the positions of all political groups seeking power. Public discussion must return to public life, which is vital for a fully functioning democracy,” - Kobakhidze added.
