Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, made a rare public appearance on October 17, chairing meetings of the party’s political council and parliamentary majority, with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze saying the gatherings focused on domestic and foreign policy issues but providing few details on the discussions.
Ivanishvili, who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2024, has made few public appearances in recent years. His appearance at Saturday’s meetings comes amid a series of crises and controversies facing the ruling party, including resignations, prosecutions, and arrests involving former senior officials such as his erstwhile aide and former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, as well as the Constitutional Court’s upcoming consideration of a lawsuit seeking to ban several opposition parties.
“A meeting of the party’s political council, as well as the parliamentary majority, was held,” Kobakhidze said following the several-hour-long meetings on Saturday. “Both meetings were attended and chaired by the party’s honorary chairman, Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili. The purpose of these meetings was to discuss current issues. In both formats, current domestic and foreign policy issues were discussed.”
Kobakhidze said it was “very important” for members of both bodies to “hear directly from Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s Honorary Chairman, his views and his position on specific issues.” He added that both meetings were held “in a discussion format” and were “very interesting,” without elaborating on the issues raised or Ivanishvili’s positions.
He also announced changes to the party’s political council, saying the party had decided to add Irakli Kirtskhalia, the parliamentary majority leader, and Zurab Pataradze, head of the government of Adjara’s Autonomous Republic, to the body.
Georgian Dream party released a statement shortly after Kobakhidze’s media comment, saying that during the council meeting Ivanishvili thanked the team for “their active work” and “summarized the corruption challenges the team had faced in the past and noted that thanks to the effective work of the Prime Minister, the government team, and the security system, these challenges have been fully and effectively overcome.”
“The session also paid attention to specific initiatives and reforms recently announced by the government,” the statement added.
Also Read:
