“Hot” February in Georgia: Who will take the place of Prime Minister?

Kremlin relations

Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has left the office of Prime Minister of Georgia, as announced on Thursday, February 18. According to his words, he doesn’t want to continue the tense situation related to the arrest of the leader of the opposition Nikanor Melia.

How did it all start?

Georgian Dream party won 2020 elections and entered parliament with 48.22% of the vote. Thus, in the Parliament of Georgia, the party got 90 seats, and the remaining 60 — the opposition got.

Georgia’s main opposition party is the United National Movement, founded by fugitive ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. The current leader of the party is Nika Melia, a Georgian lawyer and politician. In 2019, under his leadership, anti-Russian and anti-government protests were provoked in Georgia, Tbilisi. At that time, the Minister of Internal Affairs was Georgy Gakharia, who gave the order to disperse the rally. Later, he was accused of unjustified cruelty and improper use of rubber bullets. The protesters demanded the resignation of Gakharia from the post of Interior Minister, but he soon becomes Prime Minister of Georgia.

RIA NEWS Alexander Imedashvili

A difficult choice for Gakharia.

The new Prime Minister got the country in a difficult economic and political situation, which was aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. And so, it seemed, when the pandemic began to decline, slowly and gradually began to lift the strict quarantine restrictions, Gakharia suddenly resigns. The reason for leaving is still the same Nika Melia. The court decided to judge him, and a day earlier, the parliament voted unanimously to strip Melia of his deputy status, which makes his arrest possible. Melia is accused of inciting riots in Tbilisi in June 2019. Gakharia found himself in a difficult situation: if an opposition leader is arrested, the already difficult situation in the country may get worse — this threatens new riots and rallies. On the other hand, as Prime Minister, he cannot forbid the execution of a court sentence on the arrest of an opposition leader.

Gakharia’s resignation temporarily defused the situation. Even the opposition leaders and Melia himself praised the move. The opposition demands to hold early parliamentary elections. Now, Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili has been temporarily appointed to the post of Prime Minister. He was previously the head of the government of Georgia in 2013-2015. Within two weeks, he must submit a new composition of the government, and the parliament must consider it. If the legislature does not accept the composition of the new government, the question of new elections will be raised. The opposition also demands early elections.

According to experts from the MGIMO Institute for International Studies:

Anti-Russian sentiment will increase in Georgia this year, and the current political crisis may probably worsen the situation.”

Whether this is the case, we will find out soon.