Giorgi Rukhadze: Sanctions of the 'MEGOBARI Act' will be a heavy blow for the regime, if we take Gomelauri as an example, imagine, even buying a cake might become difficult for him. I address the representatives of 'Dream,' the 'Gomelauris' will become

Dark clouds are gathering over the heads of "Georgian Dream" - in the form of sanctions from the U.S., there will be much more pressure on Ivanishvili's regime, it will be massive and therefore much harder to bear for the "Georgian Dream," said Giorgi Rukhadze, the founder of the "Strategic Analysis Center," during the "PalitraNews" program "Daily Newsroom," responding to the U.S. House of Representatives' support for the "MEGOBARI Act."

As Rukhadze noted, the "MEGOBARI Act" will be a heavy blow for the "Dream" regime, while it will be a victory for Georgia's democratic forces and protests on Rustaveli.

"I definitely see a dark cloud. These clouds are gathering over the heads of 'Georgian Dream.' The assessments that the U.S. sanctions will bring much more pressure on Ivanishvili's regime are correct. The sanctions will be massive, and the sanctioning policy will become institutionalized. This means that when the 'MEGOBARI Act' reaches its final form, when the Senate passes it, when a common version is agreed upon, and then Trump signs it, it will become law. After that, the president’s administration and the State Department will have the obligation to periodically check the Georgian reality. First, what is happening with the undermining of democracy, and accordingly, sanction the people responsible. Second, what is happening with Russia, China, and Iran, and what is happening in the context of their growing influence. If anyone is helping these processes, they will be sanctioned as well. It's very easy to understand who is hindering democracy in Georgia – Ivanishvili's regime. Accordingly, there will be nothing to investigate. On the other hand, it is clear to everyone that Ivanishvili’s regime is the Georgian branch of Russia and the Kremlin. It is also clear who is friends with China and Iran. Ultimately, this will be a heavy blow for the 'Dream' regime, a victory for Georgia's democratic forces, and protests on Rustaveli. It is evident from the statements of the representatives of the 'Georgian Dream' that they are perceiving this quite painfully," Rukhadze said.

He further mentioned that the scale of these sanctions will be different. The sanctions will target many "high-ranking officials" of the "Georgian Dream" – from his perspective, they are low-ranking officials. Moreover, their family members will also be affected. These will be financial sanctions.

"Take Gomelauri, for example, imagine, he no longer has accounts in banks, cannot run a business, even buying a cake might be difficult because it becomes clear that cooperating with a sanctioned person is involved. He is a mummy now. When was the last time you saw Gomelauri? This person is lost. I address the representatives of 'Georgian Dream,' the 'Gomelauris' will become like that, with the difference that they will be in a much worse condition, as will their family members. Gharibashvili thinks that he has escaped and that this will not affect him – but it will. This will be massive and much harder for the 'Georgian Dream' to bear. This will stop the lives of these people," Rukhadze said.

In addition, as Rukhadze pointed out while discussing the same topic, "We should not think that sanctions alone will change the regime."

"We should absolutely not think that sanctions, no matter how severe and massive, will be enough for the regime to retreat. We have countless examples that authoritarian regimes do not back down because of sanctions. Russia, Belarus, Venezuela, and others are examples. Sanctions are only a supporting mechanism to make society more active in continuing its struggle against the regime and to put more pressure on the regime. Sanctions alone will not change the regime," Rukhadze emphasized.

Rukhadze also responded to the statement of the Secretary-General of "Georgian Dream" and the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kaha Kaladze, who said that "if necessary, they will release evidence about what happened during the early days of the war in Ukraine, in the Prime Minister's cabinet, during meetings with representatives of the European Union and other countries." According to Rukhadze, this is "nonsense."

"This all refers to 2022. Three years have passed since then. If this is so important, as they themselves claim, if something bad was planned for Georgia, then I don't understand why it wasn't released earlier? Did they show the 'Deep State' and the 'Global War Party' their conscience? What logic is that? When will it become necessary? The first part of the 'MEGOBARI Act' was passed in the House of Representatives. I just have a question for Kaladze – when will it become necessary? When they personally sanction him, will he release everything after that? Or when the 'MEGOBARI Act' becomes law, will he release it? When will it become necessary? These general discussions just point to the fact that they have no evidence. The 'Deep State' and the 'Global War Party' are just their invented nonsense. In reality, the EU is represented by ambassadors, Germany and France are represented by ambassadors. These countries are governed by democratically elected authorities. These people represented the positions of those countries. What 'Deep State'... Why not just say the U.S. ambassador did this or that?" Rukhadze asked.

He continued, "I want to ask Kaladze one thing – what is 'Deep State' at all? Someone tell me what it means in Georgian. I really want Kaladze to explain in his next comment somewhere, when he opens a park in Temka, which floods every time it rains, to explain what 'Deep State' means in his opinion in Georgian, because we don't understand it."

At first, Rukhadze thought there was only one "Deep State." Now, based on the conversations of the "Georgian Dream's" "high-ranking officials," it turns out there are many. "Germany, France, apparently, have their own 'Deep State,' the EU, the U.S. – they have their own. Why does Russia not have one, nor China? Does Georgia have one? It seems they have decided whether there is one or many. Is it only in the West? Does it not exist in dictatorial regimes? There are so many contradictions. It would be very funny if people didn't believe this. In reality, the supporters of 'Georgian Dream' believe this nonsense," Rukhadze concluded.

For your information, the U.S. House of Representatives has supported the "MEGOBARI Act." The bill, titled the "Georgia Accountability, Resilience, and Independence Strengthening and Mobilization Act" (MEGOBARI), was supported by 349 congressmen, while 42 voted against it. Now, the bill must be approved by the U.S. Senate.

It is worth reminding that the "MEGOBARI Act" was introduced in the House of Representatives last year by Congressman Joe Wilson, and this year it was reintroduced by Congressman Steve Cohen (Democratic Party), Congressman Richard Hudson (Republican Party), and Congressman Mark Green (Democratic Party). According to the congressmen, the "MEGOBARI Act" expresses support for the Georgian people and, among other things, imposes sanctions on Georgian officials for human rights violations and undermining democracy.