What is really behind Ivanishvili’s decision to quit politics
What is really behind Ivanishvili’s decision to quit politics
Author(s): Soso DzamukashviliSubject(s): Government/Political systems, Political behavior, Political Essay
Published by: Kolegium Europy Wschodniej im. Jana Nowaka-Jeziorańskiego we Wrocławiu
Keywords: Georgia; Bidzina Ivanishvili; Georgian Dream party; Ivanishvili’s retirement from politics; democratic development;
Summary/Abstract: On January 11th this year, Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and chairman of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party and the country’s most influential politician announced his retirement from politics “as party chairman, as well as from the party itself”. The 65-year-old billionaire declared his mission was accomplished, having decided to return to his “private lifestyle” and to “completely withdraw from politics and let go of the reins of power”. Ivanishvili stated that his party has laid a solid foundation for a “new history” in Georgia, characterised by peaceful and democratic development. This supposedly contrasts with Saakashvili’s nine years of “authoritarianism, self-fetishisation, a dictatorship based on fear and torture, a seizure of public space, false propaganda and an attempt to reinforce and perpetuate personal power”.
Journal: New Eastern Europe
- Issue Year: 2021
- Issue No: 03 (46)
- Page Range: 81-87
- Page Count: 7
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF