Where is Ivanishvili leaving for?

Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

At his last press-conference Bidzina Ivanishvili once more stated that he intended to leave his position and politics right after the presidential elections of October 27. The premier has spoken about this previously, but has never made it absolutely clear.

“What if your candidate Georgia Margvelashvili doesn’t win the elections?” the leaving prime minister was asked. The answer was notable: “In this case I will have no obligations and will live like I want and do what I want.” So he made it clear that he will leave anyway.

Today people are trying to guess who will be the next premier after Ivanishvili. Many say that it will be the former aide of Ivanishvili in the bank “Kartu,” Georgy Kvirikashvili, who is the minister of economic development and vice-premier. At the same time, there is another candidate – the interior minister Irakly Garibashvili who also came from the bank “Kartu.”

Ivanishvili doesn’t assume that the former speaker Nino Burdzhanadze can be the president. She is thought to be the only serious pro-Russian politician in Georgia. At the same press conference Ivanishvili tried to steal the initiative from her and said that even though the government has “no position on the Customs Union and European Union” today, in the future “if membership in these organizations meets the interests of Georgia, then why not?” At the same time, the premier expressed complete support for the USA on the Syrian issue. Such a position of the premier, Eduard Shevardnadze-style, is aimed at hiding the true intentions of Ivanishvili and avoiding giving an answer to the question: “What will Ivanishvili do after leaving politics?”

He has many times stated that he will improve civil society. But how? Will he establish a non-governmental organization? Will he sponsor an already-existing NGO? And if Ivanishvili really plans to improve civil society, why has he recently shut down his beloved child – the TV-company The Ninth Channel? How can civil society influence the authorities without independent, at least non-governmental mass media?

Ivanishvili doesn’t answer these questions, and the number of interpretations is growing. For example, one of the supporters of President Saakashvili in the former United National Movement ruling party, Nugzar Tsiklauri, told Vestnik Kavkaza that in fact Ivanishvili is leaving because he has reached his main goal – he managed to “take” his capital from Russia. According to the version, when he came to Georgian politics in the autumn of 2011, Ivanishvili hinted to the Kremlin on a possible turn toward Russia, gained an agreement on selling billions in assets, transferred money to the West, and now he will leave for France, as he is a citizen of the country.

His colleague in the presidential party David Darchiashvili doesn’t exclude another motive: “On January 1st, 2014, the new constitution begins its operation, and a foreign citizen will not have the right to take state positions any more. Ivanishvili is a citizen of France. According to Saakashvili’s order, he will be a Georgian citizen, if he gave up the French citizenship, but for Ivanishvili it is more important to preserve his French passport than the position of Georgian Premier,” Darchiashvili is sure.

Meanwhile, the premier hinted at the press conference that he had a dream – to turn Georgia into Dubai. In this project he is ready to invest several billion dollars. The near future will show what the real reasons for leaving the prime minister’s position are.