History
Garibashvili took office amid political crisis in Georgia. [6] Nika Melia, chairman of the opposition United National Movement party, was accused of organizing mass violence during the anti-government protests in 2019. In June 2019, the court released him on bail. [7] [8] [9] [10] When Melia declined to pay bail, the Tbilisi City Court satisfied the prosecution's motion to send Melia to pretrial detention. In response, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia proposed to postpone Melia's arrest to not exacerbate political tensions between the government and the opposition. On 18 February 2022, Gakharia resigned, citing disagreement with his party colleagues over enforcing an arrest order for Melia. The ruling Georgian Dream party supported Garibashvili to replace Gakharia, and the Parliament voted 89–2 to appoint Garibashvili on 22 February.
In his pre-confirmation address to parliament, Garibashvili promised a hardline approach to the "radical opposition" to curb their activities against "the constitutional order and framework". He referred to UNM as "a refuge of criminals and terrorists". Garibashvili presented his economic vision, criticizing the idea of a minimal state and the "invisible hand of the market". He said that "small state idea is a myth impeding the country's development" and called on the government to play an active role in economy. [11] Garibashvili stated that "history does not know the precedent of development by allowing processes to flow on their own" and "neither Europe nor America developed in this way". [12] He emphasized that Georgia should become economically more self-sufficient. Garibashvili further criticized the United National Movement, which ruled Georgia for a decade before Georgian Dream took over in 2012, for their free-market approach to economics. Garibashvili's address to parliament was boycotted by the opposition (except European Socialists and Citizens), which was demanding early parliamentary elections. [13] On 23 February, Melia was arrested while at United National Movement party headquarters. [14]
On October 1, 2022, former Georgian President and the UNM's leader Mikhail Saakashvili returned to Georgia after eight-year exile. Saakashvili entered the country secretly in the container of a sea cargo ship. [15] He went live on Facebook, saying that he was in Batumi. Saakashvili was in hiding since the Georgian Prosecutor's Office filed criminal charges against him in 2014. In 2018, the Tbilisi City Court convicted Saakashvili in absentia on three charges and sentenced him to 6 years in prison. [16] Initially Saakashvili's location was unknown to government officials, with some of them even saying that Saakashvili's arrival was fake and he was actually in Ukraine. However, later prime minister Irakli Garibashvili held press briefing, where he announced that the government successfully captured Saakashvili. [17] He was transferred to No. 12 penitentiary facility in Rustavi and was attending his trials from there.
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgia expressed diplomatic and political support for Ukraine. Georgia has provided humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and sheltered Ukrainian refugees. However, Georgia has refused to join the Western economic sanctions against Russia. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated that joining sanctions will harm Georgian economy and people and that he has to put Georgia's national interests above everything else. [18] This led to worsening of relations with Ukraine since Ukrainian officials were dissatisfied with Georgia's position. Ukraine further accused Georgia of helping Russia to bypass sanctions, which Georgia denied and asked Ukraine either testify or apologize. [19] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in response dismissed Ukraine's Ambassador to Georgia. [20]
On 3 March 2022, Georgia applied to the European Union membership ahead of schedule, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [21] However, the application was rejected by the European Commission. In June 2022, the European Commission established Georgia's eligibility to become a member of the EU, but deferred giving it official candidate status until after certain conditions were met. [22] Later that month, the European Council expressed readiness to grant Georgia the status of a candidate after completing a set of reforms recommended by the Commission. [23]
Under Garibashvili government, political crisis in Georgia came to an end, restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19 pandemic were lifted and Georgia's post-pandemic economic recovery accelerated. [24] [25] To coordinate the country's economic policy, Irakli Garibashvili established the Economic Council. [26]
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