News
Show news feed

The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, for the first time made a public statement Saturday that billionaire and founder of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, could still have an influence on the situation in the country, despite officially leaving politics, reports News Georgia.

Earlier, Zourabichvili had avoided answering that question.

"Ivanishvili's status today is very uncertain after he officially left the government. The question of where the main decisions are made is heard from outside. And I believe that this feeling or question exists within the [Georgian] society as well," she said in an interview with Pirveli television.

According to the Georgian president, when such questions arise, it is in itself bad for the political system because the people should know where the center of responsibility is, who will answer for the decisions and rhetoric being made.

Zourabichvili said that she tried to meet with Ivanishvili and wants that meeting to take place in order to "bring more clarity into Georgian politics.”

"There are many messages from abroad that Ivanishvili should understand and listen to if he is the head..." added the Georgian president.

And to the TV program host’s question as to whether Bidzina Ivanishvili is an oligarch, Salome Zourabichvili responded: "Maybe, yes... in the sense that he has money, influence on the media, and influence on politics. But the issue of oligarchy is more than Ivanishvili. And Ivanishvili's issue is bigger than oligarchy. We need to understand and know where important decisions are made, how these decisions can be changed, or how they can be influenced."

!
This text available in   Հայերեն and Русский
Print