Georgian Prime Minister and chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Kobakhidze, referred to himself as the ‘second person’ in the party, apparently implying that the first is the party’s billionaire founder and honorary chair, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Kobakhidze made the remarks during a briefing which he devoted to praising Ivanishvili.
Kobakhidze’s briefing at the Government Administration took place on Tuesday. In it, he noted that Ivanishvili is the ‘main target of political attacks’ by what he described as the country’s ‘external enemies and their local agents’.
‘They claim that the country is governed not through democratic rules, but single-handedly by Bidzina Ivanishvili’, Kobakhidze said, referring to longstanding criticism from opponents that Ivanishvili — who currently holds no public office — remains the real wielder of political power.
Praising Ivanishvili, Kobakhidze described him as a ‘grossmeister (grandmaster) of politics’ and ‘a man devoted to his people and country’, possessing ‘exceptional intellect and selfless patriotism’. In his words, following the 2012 parliamentary election victory by Georgian Dream, Ivanishvili ‘established democratic governance based on human rights’.
‘During these extremely difficult years, it was precisely Bidzina Ivanishvili’s intellect and uncompromising patriotism that enabled Georgia to overcome numerous major challenges,’ he added, going on to claim that state institutions had been ‘strengthened’ since 2012.
While Kobakhidze insisted that Ivanishvili does not ‘interfere excessively’ in the government’s work, he said the billionaire’s influence over government decisions extends to a degree that ‘corresponds to the role of the honorary chair of the ruling party’.
Kobakhidze added that he himself, as the ‘head of government and the second-ranking figure in the ruling party’, frequently relies on Ivanishvili’s ‘invaluable advice’, which, he argued, it would be ‘wrong’ to disregard in light of the country’s interests.
According to Kobakhidze, although Ivanishvili holds ‘great respect’ for differing opinions, it is ‘most often’ Ivanishvili’s view that prevails during discussions within the ruling team — something he attributed to Ivanishvili’s ‘exceptional competence’.
Moreover, Kobakhidze portrayed Ivanishvili as a safeguard against corruption, stating that when he formally returned to politics in December 2023 — after having publicly stepped away several years earlier — his comeback had been motivated by the need to address corruption.
‘[Corruption] at the upper levels of governance has now been fully eradicated’, Kobakhidze added, in an apparent reference to the recent arrests of former senior officials on corruption charges, including former Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili. While the ruling party framed the arrests as part of efforts to tackle the problem, the opposition has described them as an internal purge.
According to Kobakhidze, it was precisely because of the ‘principled defence of the country’s interests’ that ‘de facto, and later de jure sanctions’ were imposed against Ivanishvili. The latter sanctions include those imposed by the US in December 2024 under then-President Joe Biden, which cited Ivanishvili’s ‘undermining’ of democracy and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic course.
Having founded the ruling Georgian Dream party in 2011, which came to power the following year, Ivanishvili has held public office only once — serving as prime minister between 2012 and 2013. Since then, he has twice announced his departure from politics and twice returned.
However, critics argue that he has consistently maintained informal influence over both the party and the government.
Kobakhidze presented the opponents’ criticism toward Ivanishvili during TV debates as the reason for holding Tuesday’s briefing.
Assessing Kobakhidze’s remarks, opposition Lelo party representative Tamaz Datunashvili described the briefing as ‘sycophancy, very unpleasant to watch’, while the leader of the opposition Federalists party, Giga Bokeria, called the remarks an ‘open declaration of a personality cult’.
Speculating on the reasons for the briefing, opposition representatives did not rule out that it was an attempt to appease Ivanishvili amidst possible dissatisfaction on his part over certain issues.
‘It is a fact that Ivanishvili had the illusion that, through maintaining the status quo, what is in effect a newly formed dictatorship would eventually settle into a normal relationship with the civilised world’, Dathunashvili said, as quoted by TV Pirveli.
‘Today’s US statement has clearly shown that this is not the case’, he added, presumably referring to a bill adopted by the US Congress on Tuesday, which, among other things, called for ‘a report on Russian and Chinese intelligence assets in Georgia’.
Kobakhidze’s briefing was preceded by claims from the imprisoned opposition politician Levan Khabeishvili — who represents the ex-ruling United National Movement (UNM) party — regarding Kobakhidze’s possible dismissal.
Khabeishvili insisted that there is an ‘internal clan struggle at Ivanishvili’s court’ and that possible replacements for Kobakhidze include ruling party MP and former cabinet minister Tea Tsulukiani, as well as the current Minister of Economy Mariam Kvrivishvili.
The ruling team has not confirmed this information.
