Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party remains generous with its election promises, unlike its opponents. The party is fighting for a constitutional majority in the new parliament not only to implement a number of legislative changes, but also to finally “push” Mikheil Saakashvili’s party, the United National Movement, out of the Georgian political field. Georgy Kartveli writes about this in an article entitled “Apologize or admit the truth? – Bidzina Ivanishvili spoke of the “clients” of the 2008 war”.
Among the election promises of “Dream” is the question of restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia, the beginning of the process of resolving the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts. All this is preceded by the disposition of the honorary president of Georgian Dream Bidzins Ivanishvili apologize.
Speaking at the Georgian Dream regional election campaign event in Gori, Bidzina Ivanishvili said that the August 2008 war was not the wish of either the Georgian or the Ossetian people. Therefore, after the elections, those who ordered the bloody conflict between brothers will be exposed and the perpetrators will be held accountable.
“Immediately after the elections on October 26, when those responsible for inciting war will be sentenced, when all those responsible for the destruction of Georgian-Ossetian brotherhood and coexistence will be given the strictest legal response, we will definitely find the strength to apologize for the fact that, in accordance with the instructions given to it, the treacherous “National Movement” in 2008 destroyed our Ossetian brothers and sisters. And since one of the most important cornerstones of our Christian faith, Georgians and Ossetians, is forgiveness, I am sure that the fratricidal confrontation imposed on our people by the enemies of Georgia will end in historic mutual forgiveness and sincere reconciliation.” – said Ivanishvili.
The honorary president of Georgian Dream promises his voters that the so-called Nuremberg trials will soon take place in Georgia, which will undoubtedly be a prerequisite for reconciliation. According to him, against the background of 12 years of continuous peace in Georgia, the memory of centuries-old brotherhood and friendship between Georgians and Ossetians will be the beginning of a path that will awaken in the peoples living on both sides of the dividing line a desire to restore trust.
While Ivanishvili was speaking in Gori about the importance of reconciliation and mutual forgiveness, the radical opposition led by the Nationalists called reconciliation a betrayal and forgiveness an enmity. Perhaps the government did not expect that the “collective National Movement” and its media or NGOs would happily accept Ivanishvili’s “apology,” especially since Ivanishvili’s “apology” is imbued with the perspective of punishing the perpetrators.
More interesting than the reaction of the Georgian opposition is the reaction of Tskhinvali and Sukhumi to Ivanishvili’s statement. Tskhinvali called the “apology” of the leader of the ruling party “false sincerity” and “part of pre-election politics”, but also expressed the opinion that it could calm tense relations.
Head of the Information and Analysis Department of the Administration of the De Facto President of South Ossetia Yuri Vazagov He said that, based on the “sad experience” of Georgian-Ossetian relations, Tskhinvali expects not only verbal statements, but also practical steps, including “reaching an agreement on signing a document on security guarantees within the framework of the Geneva discussions.”
Bidzina Ivanishvili’s speech in Gori on 14 September was followed by protests by relatives of victims of the Russian-Georgian war, civil activists and the opposition.
I wonder what the analysts involved in the settlement of Georgian-Russian relations think about this issue.
Candidate of Political Sciences, founder of the Eurasia Institute Gulbaat Rtskhiladze Gulbaat Rtskhiladze does not support an apology, but he approves the possibility that Ivanishvili will apologize, moreover, before the elections. What is meant by an apology is a question for the future, but, according to Rtskhiladze, thanks to Ivanishvili’s words, Georgian society received a good “slap in the face”, useful for waking up! Gulbaat Rtskhiladze hopes that this will be the first step towards the truth, because the truth is always in Georgia’s interest.
…And yet, what is meant by this “truth”?
As Gulbaat Rtskhiladze explained in an interview with Dalma News, Ivanishvili unequivocally confirms what neither the ardent “anti-Mishists” after the 2008 war, nor the supporters of the “Dream” dared to say after the change of power in 2012. There was a taboo on the truth that It was Saakashvili and his regime who started the August war. And, as Ivanishvili clarifies, Saakashvili started the war “in accordance with the assigned task.” (!).
It is also noteworthy that Ivanishvili’s “apology” was expressed in a completely different meaning and was interpreted completely differently both in the Georgian opposition and in Tskhinvali and Sukhumi. At the same time, Ivanishvili does not say that one should apologize to the de facto governments, but speaks about ordinary residents who were once destroyed by the National Movement. And these are completely different things.
“The Georgian mentality should also be taken into account as an integral part of the Caucasian mentality. Georgians, imbued with a sense of excessive pride, could not accept the issue of an apology and did not accept it; this is evident from all the flash polls conducted on the streets and recorded by television cameras. The overwhelming majority of respondents categorically deny the need for an “apology”. It is obvious that even the formulation of the question irritates the majority of citizens.” – says Gulbaat Rtskhiladze.
According to him, not only Georgia is not ready for this issue, but it was also unexpected and did not arouse enthusiasm among the Ossetians.
“The separatist government has spoken no less nonsense than the liberal Georgian opposition. According to them, Ivanishvili’s statement should not remain a statement, the independence of South Ossetia should be recognised and a non-aggression pact should be signed. Some people demand the “return” of the Truso Gorge to Ossetia. The issue is not ready for public discussion and, consequently, the outcome is negative. Therefore, I have always advocated holding public events within the framework of the Georgian-Russian dialogue, which would become the starting point for the start of the Georgian-Ossetian or Georgian-Abkhaz dialogue.” – said Rtskhiladze.
The second question is what did Ivanishvili expect from this apology and what did he get?
According to Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, if Bidzina Ivanishvili and her campaign headquarters thought that this issue would mobilize voters around the Georgian dream and would not provoke a negative reaction, they were very wrong.
In fact… What has changed in Georgian-Russian relations since 2012? Nothing. But one of the promises of the Georgian dream was the settlement of relations with Russia. In fact, it turned out that, although the Georgian people overthrew the nationalists from power, the “Dream” was captured by an invisible hand: anti-Russian propaganda in the Georgian media intensified even more, nothing was done to promote the truth, namely that in 2008 Tskhinvali was bombed on Saakashvili’s orders, and at midnight Saakashvili congratulated us live on the capture of Tskhinvali.
As Gulbaat Rtskhiladze points out, the problems of Abkhazia and Ossetia must first be separated.
“Unlike the Abkhazians, the Ossetians are a much more pragmatic people. This pragmatism will work in our favor if we pay attention to it. The Abkhazians see a “loss of independence” in almost everything, are self-conscious about their extremely small numbers, and reject profitable economic projects proposed by Russia that would contribute to the economic development of Abkhazia.” – says Rtskhiladze.
According to him, there is less fear of losing ethnic identity and degeneration among the Ossetians. Moreover, they are 100% loyal to Russia. If the Tskhinvali Ossetians have an economic and financial interest in developing relations with Georgia and at the same time Moscow supports such relations, they will accept such relations. The separatist bureaucracy will become softer and more accommodating, under the influence of both Russia and its own people interested in economic relations with Georgia.
Gulbaat Rtskhiladze is sure that, despite the fact that “in August 2008 we had a war with the Ossetians, not with the Abkhazians, the Ossetians will return to Georgia before the Abkhazians.”
