Georgia's prime minister resigns amid criticism of his rapprochement with Russia

The Georgian Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, made a surprise announcement of his resignation this Monday.

His party, Georgian Dream, is thus trying to boost his popularity ahead of the parliamentary elections to be held this year, expected in the fall.

The image of the formation was greatly damaged in 2023 by the massive protests against corruption and the winks made to Moscow, while the country is applying for membership in the European Union.

Furthermore, the resignation coincides with the return of the party's founder, the pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is still considered the shadow leader of the party.

“There are more successful leaders in the team and it is necessary to give others a chance,” Garibashvili said when reporting his departure.

Furthermore, new tasks now lie before us: in the autumn we will elect a new Parliament and Georgian Dream must prepare to win the elections convincingly and move towards higher goals.”

The European Union granted Georgia candidate country status in mid-December.

A path that has been long and that its population saw in danger last year, when Georgian Dream introduced a bill, ultimately failed, to intensify the persecution of opponents and activists, labeling them as foreign agents.

Furthermore, with Garibashvili they resumed flights with Russia, suspended since the war in Georgia in 2008, and he publicly clashed with the Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelensky, accusing him of “trying to open a second front” against Russia in his country.

Those new bridges with Moscow recalled the step back of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2013, when his resignation from the trade agreement with Brussels due to pressure from Kemlin unleashed the pro-European Maidan protests.

shadow leader

The prime minister has resigned just weeks after the founder of Georgian Dream suddenly returned to the front line.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia before coming to power in Georgia in 2012, was named honorary president of the party in December.

Garibashvili has served as prime minister twice.

Between 2013 and 2015, when he succeeded Ivanishvili as head of the Georgian Government and the businessman began to exercise power in the shadows;

and since 2021, when he replaced his party colleague Giorgi Gajaria, when he refused to comply with the arrest of opposition leader Nika Melia, whom the justice system accused of organizing “massive violence” in government protests, until this Monday.

The party will elect its new candidate for prime minister on February 1, who will later be appointed by Parliament.

According to the Georgian press, the successor in office will be Irakli Kobajidze and he will also replace several ministers, including those of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

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