Bidzina Ivanishvili’s role in strengthening Georgian statehood, democracy, and human rights is entirely extraordinary. The Prime Minister of Georgia said this at today’s briefing.

“As you are all well aware, Bidzina Ivanishvili is the primary target of aggression and political attacks from our country’s external enemies and their local agents.

They claim that the nation is governed not by democratic rules, but single-handedly by Bidzina Ivanishvili. Furthermore, they refer to the democratically elected government as ‘the Ivanishvili regime’, trying to paint the democracy established since 2012 as an autocracy.

We heard these exact narratives during Saturday’s and yesterday’s televised debates, which prompted me to voice my position on this matter before the Georgian public.

First and foremost, it must be noted that Bidzina Ivanishvili’s role in strengthening Georgia’s statehood, democracy, and human rights is entirely extraordinary. I have said it several times and wish to emphasise it once more: Bidzina Ivanishvili is a political grandmaster, and he loves his people and his country. His political weight rests precisely on these two pillars: his exceptional intellect and his selfless patriotism.

It was this unique combination of qualities that enabled him in 2012 to achieve what everyone thought impossible: to orchestrate a grandmaster-level removal from power of a foreign asset network, which had been given a green light from abroad to perpetrate any form of violence.

At a time when no other force was visible that could put an end to the bloody regime of these foreign agents, Bidzina Ivanishvili, wearing white gloves, without any violence or indignity, removed the regime from power and established democratic governance based on human rights”, - said Irakli Kobakkhidze.