PM refuses to greet President at Defence Forces anniversary

At the 33rd anniversary celebration of the Georgian Defence Forces in Vaziani, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s speech notably omitted any greeting to President Salome Zourabichvili, the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces. 

Kobakhidze expressed disapproval of the President’s speech’s content, claiming she would have to answer for “betraying” the country. 

“In my address, I consciously refrained from acknowledging the previous speaker, thereby ensuring that the solemn occasion remained focused on the essence of honoring our armed forces. Such political overtones, inappropriate for today’s event and the esteemed office of the presidency, warranted no response from our military. Ultimately, any breach of oath to our Constitution and betrayal of our country will be answered for,” Kobakhidze said. 

In her remarks, Zourabichvili Emphasized the importance of recognizing long standing allies and partners, cautioning against attempts to distort their significance or paint them as adversaries. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the ruling party Georgian Dream, who is branded as a shadow ruler by the domestic opposition with alleged pro-Kremlin sentiments, addressed a rally in Tbilisi on Monday, organized by the GD to back the controversial foreign transparency bill. 

In his address Ivanishvili claimed a “global war party” was fighting against the GD authorities, who he asserted had earlier caused tensions between Russia and Georgia and later between Russia and Ukraine. 

He also said  time was “perfectly selected” for the initiation of bills against “agents” and “LGBT propaganda”, and one of the goals behind the proposals was to demobilize the “agency” for the autumn general elections. 

The rift between the ruling party, government, and the President traces back to March of the previous year, stemming from diverging views on Georgia’s trajectory vis-à-vis European integration.