TBILISI, October 30. /TASS/. The victory of Grigol Vashadze in the Georgian presidential election may unleash an all-out civil conflict in the country, lawmaker Gedevan Popkhadze of the ruling Georgian Dream party said on Tuesday.
"I’m firmly convinced that Vashadze’s election victory will become a real step toward the civil war in Georgia. Vashadze and the United National Movement (UNM), which nominated him as a presidential candidate, have revanchist ideas and goals," the lawmaker told reporters in Tbilisi. "Vashadze himself said on numerous occasions that he intends to let ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili return to the country if he wins the election. And we all know too well what Saakashvili and his team plan to do if they rise to power."
A number of other prominent Georgian politicians share this point of view, while others accuse the ruling party and its members of trying to intimidate voters with political consequences to secure their support.
Members of the European Georgia opposition party urged the ruling Georgian Dream’s leadership to condemn those statements.
"I think that this statement by Popkhadze reflects the stance of some of the ruling party’s leaders. I think that the Georgian Dream should weigh this statement and distance itself from Popkhadze’s words," said Gigi Ugulava, a leader of European Georgia.
During the October 24 debates with his main opponent, independent candidate Salome Zurabishvili, Vashadze said that his election victory would "launch a power transition process in the country." He also said that ex-president Saakashvili, found guilty in absentia on a series of charges, must be given an opportunity to return to Georgia to "answer questions of law-enforcement bodies." Besides, the Georgian president has the authority to pardon prisoners.
The Georgian Central Election commission said on Monday that an independent presidential candidate, 66-year-old Salome Zurabishvili has received 38.64% of the vote, while her key rival Grigol Vashadze, nominated by the United National Movement party, has secured 37.74% of the vote. Both candidates will go to runoff no later than December 2, as the first round of the elections was deemed too close to call.
Saakashvili case
Saakashvili served two terms as Georgia’s president - from January 2004 to November 2007 and from January 2008 to mid-November 2013. In November 2013, he left the country two days before his term of office expired and new President Giorgi Margvelashvili was sworn in. In May 2015, Saakashvili was granted Ukrainian citizenship, which resulted in his Georgian citizenship being terminated by the decision of the Georgian president.
Saakashvili served as Odessa Region Governor from May 30, 2015, to November 9, 2016, but then tendered his resignation. On July 26, 2017, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship, and in February 2018 the Ukrainian authorities expelled him to Poland. Then he moved to the Netherlands where he got an ID-card permitting him to reside and work there.
In 2014, Georgian prosecutors brought a series of charges against Saakashvili. He was charged with a crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in November 2007; illegal intrusion into the building of the Imedi television channel; illegal acquisition of property belonging to businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili; organization of an armed attack on lawmaker Valery Gelashvili in 2005; covering-up a crime and falsification of an investigation into the 2006 murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani; and misappropriation of about $5 million from state funds in 2009-2012.
The City Court of Tbilisi on January 5, 2018 sentenced Saakashvili in absentia to three years in prison after probing into the 2006 murder of banker Sandro Girgvliani. The politician was found guilty of abuse of office. Formally, the court sentenced him to four years, but in view of the law On Amnesty, the term was cut to three years. Saakashvili was also stripped of the right to hold office in Georgia’s public sector for 18 months.