“I have not accepted censorship from dictatorships - neither in the past from the Ukrainian authorities nor from Russia. Friends, adjust your target. It’s time to free ourselves from the ‘Saakashvili complex’ and fully focus on the work. And if something isn’t working, instead of saying ‘Misha is hindering us,’ you should work even harder,” Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said in response to a statement by the “Opposition Alliance” (issued by eight of the nine parties in the alliance), which reacted to his public remarks made on April 18.

In his statement, Saakashvili writes that he has always supported unity, but notes that weak and fragile unity cannot effectively confront the ruling force.

“We have not dedicated ourselves to fighting for Georgia so that those who should now be fighting Ivanishvili instead choose me as their main target.

I have always been, and remain, a supporter of unity, but if that unity is so fragile that it breaks down easily over everything and even seeks to impose censorship on me, it will not have the strength to fight the regime.

It is clear to anyone not driven by personal ego that I am the main problem for Ivanishvili. I have the most support in Georgia, which is why I have spent the most time in prison and have received the most sentences. At the same time, I have no ambition for sole leadership, and I have said this many times.

In 2016, Ivanishvili, through various individuals, created a split within the ‘United National Movement,’ when a large group broke away from us, which significantly strengthened the regime. In 2018, when Bakradze was positioned as a counterweight, this disrupted the opposition’s victory in the presidential elections. And in 2024, when Ivanishvili brought Gilauri onto the scene and spent $10 million, it became impossible to run in the elections with a single list.

Moreover, I have been completely blocked on opposition TV channels (despite my decisive role in creating and sustaining one of them). As a result, the opposition failed to protect its votes in the elections. I thought we had learned from all this and moved onto a different track, but it seems that for some, this has not been the case.

We must tell each other the truth. How is it that the ‘Alliance’ has not made a single statement all this time about the real problems people face - extreme poverty, laws concerning cars and bottles, and many other specific issues - yet finds time to criticize me?

I have not accepted censorship from dictatorships, neither from the Ukrainian government in the past nor from Russia. Friends, adjust your target. It’s time to free ourselves from the ‘Saakashvili complex’ and fully focus on the work. And if something isn’t working, instead of saying ‘Misha is hindering us,’ you should work even better,” Saakashvili writes.

For reference, the parties in the “Opposition Alliance” - “Akhali,” “Girchi - More Freedom,” “Droa,” “National Democratic Party,” “European Georgia,” “Freedom Square,” “Strategy Aghmashenebeli,” and “Federalists” - issued a joint position regarding Saakashvili’s April 18 statement.

According to the alliance, “personal attacks,” as both the alliance and a significant part of the public perceived Saakashvili’s remarks, contradict its principles, including the understanding that no single party has the right to declare itself the sole representative of the opposition or protest movement, or to claim single-party or one-person leadership.

The alliance calls on all member parties to refrain from such “confrontational statements” in the future.