Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has commented on statements by Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party, that representatives of the United National Movement (UNM) had also allegedly held negotiations with former Prime Minister Nika Gilauri. In an interview with the “Reaction” program on the Pirveli TV channel, Saakashvili categorically rejected these claims, calling them a lie. According to him, such statements are an attempt to justify one’s own actions. He compared them to a situation where a person tries to excuse their behavior by accusing their interlocutor of the exact same thing.
According to Saakashvili, it was Gilauri who paid $30 million to ensure that the Mtavari TV channel stopped covering the activities of the United National Movement. Meanwhile, he also recalled the creation of the Mtavari TV channel, stating that the decision to found it was made at his home in Kyiv. He said that his mother sold a plot of land inherited from his grandfather Givi in order to hand the money over to the TV channel.
“In 2023, Gilauri appeared precisely when we were negotiating with other parties to create a unified list. His condition was: no unified list, we run separately! In addition, the Mtavari TV channel stopped covering the activities of the Nationals. Gilauri invested 30 million dollars into this. Formally, however, only 40 million lari was registered! If you compare, the Coalition for Change, founded by Gilauri, had 30 times more money in the elections than the National Movement, whose leader is in prison.
In general, using my poisoning and my temporarily grave condition to hunt for my party’s votes is classic political marauding. Can anyone believe even for a minute that all of this happened without direct orders from Ivanishvili? Therefore, claiming that the Nationals also negotiated with Gilauri is like someone justifying their irresponsible behavior by saying, ‘Well, you’re the same.’
Besides the fact that this is a complete lie, it absolutely cannot serve as an excuse. As for the Mtavari TV channel, the decision to create it was made at my home in Kyiv. It was there, with my direct participation and mediation, that the agreement was reached. It was I who found the investors who fully funded the TV channel for many years. Moreover, when I ended up in prison, my mother sold the land plot left by my grandfather Givi and handed over half of the proceeds to Mtavari. This was our family’s last money! And yet, during the 2024 elections, the TV channel completely blocked our access. They even stopped broadcasting my court appearances. This is no longer politics, but complete immorality,” — Saakashvili stated.
