In a lengthy post on Facebook, the imprisoned former president made a series of dire predictions while also criticising the opposition and portraying himself as the only person capable of thwarting plans by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, News Georgia reports.
Saakashvili claimed that he had received information indicating that Ivanishvili and his inner circle were preparing to take a series of steps in the coming weeks and months.
“Over the past several months, I have been hearing rumours that people around Ivanishvili are actively saying: the main thing is to get through this autumn, and after that we will remain in power forever,” he wrote.
“It is now becoming increasingly clear what exactly they are planning for the autumn. Russia is demanding specific institutional steps from Ivanishvili. Moscow does not believe in promises, and it is no longer satisfied with merely making arrests, using pro-Russian rhetoric and accusing its own country of starting the war.”
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According to Saakashvili, the Georgian government is preparing to sign an agreement with Russia, restore diplomatic relations and create an anti-Western pact; sign a non-use-of-force agreement with what he called the “puppet authorities” in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and, consequently, recognise them as entities; reopen the Abkhaz railway; and declare Georgia neutral.
“All of this is planned to be implemented within a few months,” he wrote.
Saakashvili warned that the coming autumn would be a “moment of truth” for Georgians.
“This autumn will be a moment of truth for Georgians: either we all unite right now, start taking action and prove that we are worthy of freedom, or we will disappear as a nation,” he said.
He also claimed that the Georgian Dream leadership was pursuing the alleged plans not only at Russia’s behest but also because it believed that, if Georgians accepted such measures, “Ivanishvili’s hereditary dictatorship” would face no serious threat for decades.
Saakashvili further criticised the Georgian opposition, claiming that its actions had led the public to regard it as completely compromised.
“Today, the situation is this: yes, 80% of Georgians hate Georgian Dream and the Russians, but at the same time, the majority believe that it is impossible to get rid of Ivanishvili,” he wrote.
“The opposition, with its games involving Gilauri and others, has achieved the result that people consider it completely bought off. People also believe that I can defeat Ivanishvili, but they also think that no one will allow me to enter Georgia freely.”
Saakashvili acknowledged that these circumstances posed a serious challenge but urged his supporters not to give up.
“All of this is true, but that does not give us the right to stop and lose heart. Now is not the time for despair, but for preparing for the decisive autumn,” he wrote.
“We must tell ourselves: it is now or never.”
