bidzina ivanishvili facebook

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s official Facebook page.

TBILISI, DFWatch–The prime minister and the president in Georgia are continuing to challenge eachother’s versions of a violent street clash Friday – via Facebook.

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili Sunday evening issued another statement as answer to President Mikheil Saakashvili’s offer of a dialogue.

Mr Ivanishvili characterizes Saakashvili’s last statement as another attempt at making the government angry, to force it to abandon its policy, and a way to evade the action plan proposed by the governing coalition.

Ivanishvili denies having suggested that anyone should ‘annihilate the National Movement’, a phrase Saakashvili used in a Facebook update, adding that such terminology only exists in the vocabulary of the UNM members.

The head of government also writes that the violent incidents on February 8 outside the National Library were mainly ‘premeditated provocations by members of his own team’ and that none of the president’s 3 500 strong guard participated in ensuring order that day.


The prime minister says it is hard to listen to moralizing and criticism from the ‘creator’ of the acts of vandalism on November 7, 2007, and May 26, 2011, but he doesn’t withdraw his offer to start proceedings in parliament to limit the president’s power to dismiss government, achieving cross-faction agreement regarding the foreign policy course of the country; to establish a constitutional commission, to create working groups which will work on other important issues.

“We do not plan to get involved in endless negotiations without perspective, and by this give a chance to win time,” he writes.

In his speech, the president said he and his party support one of the constitution changes, which is about reducing the authority of the president, but do not support moving parliament back to Tbilisi. Now, the prime minister writes that the president’s and his party agreement on these changes will be proof for his words, which will ‘open ways to solve every issue.’

“In this case I hope parliament will also be able to listen to the president’s annual speech in the nearest future.”

The parliamentary majority postponed the president’s annual speech to parliament, saying that they would like parliament to first make decisions about constitutional changes about the president’s powers, and then schedule the president’s address to parliament.


In his last statement, the president said he will be ready to address the nation from the parliament again.

The president offered the government a dialogue, but the prime minister said the speaker of parliament never stopped the dialogue with the parliamentary minority, as top problems should be solved within the frames of parliament. He writes that the speaker of parliament is ready to immediately continue the consultations and if necessary meet with the president as well.

“Following the development of this process, of course I am also ready to participate in those meetings,” the prime minister writes.