Kobakhidze Holds Briefing to Praise ‘Political Grandmaster’ Ivanishvili, Reject ‘One-Man Rule’ Allegations
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a briefing on June 9 dedicated to billionaire founder and honorary chairman of the ruling party, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, extensively praising him and his personal role in the country’s politics while rejecting allegations of “one-man” and autocratic rule.
During a nearly eight-minute speech, Kobakhidze described Ivanishvili as a “political grandmaster” who, he said, is a “primary target” of “aggression and political attacks by Georgia’s external enemies and their domestic ‘agentura’,” a term used in Georgian to describe a network of agents and spies.
According to Kobakhidze, those who describe the current government as “Ivanishvili’s regime” are trying to portray “the democracy that has been established since 2012 as autocracy.” He said he decided to address the issue publicly after hearing similar claims repeated in televised debates, including in one the previous night.
“Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili is a political grandmaster who loves his own people and country. His political weight is based precisely on these two key factors: exceptional intellect and selfless patriotism,” Kobakhidze said.
According to Kobakhidze, those qualities enabled Ivanishvili to achieve “what many believed was impossible” in 2012 by removing from power what he described as a “foreign agentura that had been given a green light from outside the country for all forms of violence” and establishing “democratic governance based on human rights.”
Kobakhidze went on to discuss Ivanishvili’s personal role in the ruling party and Georgia’s politics, addressing what he described as “completely false” claims by “external enemies” and their “local agents” regarding “one-man rule” in the country.
He first noted that Bidzina Ivanishvili has been the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream and a member of its political council since late December 2023.
“It was under these circumstances that the ruling party entered the 2024 parliamentary elections, and under the same conditions that it received strong support from the Georgian people. Accordingly, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s role in the country’s political life is not only formalized but is also based on direct democratic legitimacy,” he said.
While saying that the ruling party governs the country in line with the constitution, Kobakhidze noted that Ivanishvili “does not, in essence, interfere in government management or personnel decisions.”
At the same time, Kobakhidze added, “As the head of government and the second-ranking figure in the ruling party, I often rely on his advice when it comes to issues of key importance for the country. His advice is always invaluable, and refusing this opportunity would be wrong, first and foremost in terms of the country’s interests.”
Kobakhidze further said Ivanishvili respects “differing opinions” within the ruling party, while noting that during “periodic” meetings with the party members, “in the course of such open, in-depth, and substantive discussions, Bidzina Ivanishvili’s opinion prevails most often,” which he attributed to Ivanishvili’s “exceptional competence.”
The GD prime minister also claimed that Ivanishvili “has never used public trust for his own personal interests” and that “no one can cite any example of him having gained any personal benefit from politics.”
Saying that Ivanishvili’s attitude towards corruption is “uncompromised,” Kobakhidze, referring to Ivanishvili’s return to active politics in 2023, claimed it enabled the government to act swiftly against corruption and that corruption at the high level of governance has since been “fully eradicated.”
Kobakhidze also defended Ivanishvili against what he described as “de facto” and “de jure sanctions,” saying they had created “considerable inconvenience” for his family as well. However, he added that “no sanction was able to force either him or his family to take even a single step against the interests of the country. This is yet another clear example of the selfless patriotism that consistently accompanies Bidzina Ivanishvili’s statesmanship.”
Reiterating that “external forces” and their “local agentura” actively oppose Ivanishvili and are driven by a desire to “reclaim Georgia,” Kobakhidze said they seek to return the country’s trajectory to pre-2012 reality.
Kobakhidze further claimed that “the consequences of the rule of a foreign agentura in European countries” are “severe,” where “the main causes of the decline of democracy, human rights, freedom of speech and the media, the weakening of national and religious identity, and economic stagnation are precisely the loss of state sovereignty.”
Kobakhidze alleged that “once exemplary European countries” are now “experiencing extremely troubling trends, which are the result of their governments serving external forces rather than their own peoples.” The main reason for the aggression toward Bidzina Ivanishvili, he said, is precisely this: “he freed the Georgian people from ‘agentocracy’ and returned democracy and the right to elections” in Georgia.
Kobakhidze credited Ivanishvili with Georgia’s “14 years of uninterrupted peace,” its sovereignty, democratic institutions, and economic growth. “Accordingly, the governance of the country will continue with respect for the Constitution of Georgia and based on the principles that Bidzina Ivanishvili established in Georgian politics in 2012,” he concluded.
Last updated: June 10, 00:30.
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- 18/04/2026 – Ivanishvili’s Son Laments ‘Violence’, ‘Polarization’, Calls for ‘Discussion, Debate’
- 27/02/2026 – GD Slams UK Sanctions, Appeals to U.S. as Political Council Meets with Ivanishvili Present