Believe me, before the 20 June case ever reaches a legal conclusion, the ‘Georgian Dream’ will have already ended its political life. I am absolutely convinced of that. As for Mamuka Mdinaradze, in the morning you are appointed a general and in the evening a coordinator, you are placed in a two-room office in the Chancellery, and called a State Minister—that is his luck. Mdinaradze understands very well that this is a demotion,” said Berdia Sichinava, one of the leaders of the “Gakharia for Georgia” party, in the “Day’s Newsroom” program on PalitraNews, commenting on the appointment of Mamuka Mdinaradze as State Minister for Coordination of Law Enforcement Agencies.

Earlier in the program, he also spoke about former Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze, convicted of abuse of office and legalization of illegal income, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. According to Sichinava, the key reason for Burchuladze’s arrest and imprisonment is that “he does not take the money where he is supposed to take it.” In his view, “from a cash box filled with stolen money, he took more for himself than was allowed.”

“They do not accuse Juansher Burchuladze of stealing money from the people or from the army. They accuse him of taking money from a shared cash fund filled with stolen resources, and of not returning part of that money. That is exactly what we are witnessing, and this explains the harsh sentence imposed on him.

In the corrupt network and governance system we have, objectively speaking, Burchuladze has no real function except being one of the cogs and instruments. It is easy to understand why he is being punished. If he had not taken money—not from the people or the army, but from the shared cash fund—and had not taken more for himself than was permitted, he would not be punished. Today, apparently, he is being asked to compensate for that financial damage, but those who run this entire corrupt network are not returning the money. Otherwise, such a harsh sentence would not exist—I am convinced of that,” Sichinava said.

He added that “in reality, this is a confrontation between influence groups, where one group is fighting another and trying to take over shared financial and influence networks. Society is witnessing this internal struggle, in which the judiciary and law enforcement system are also involved.”

Regarding former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, against whom two criminal cases have also been launched, Sichinava said it is wrong and unethical to compare Gakharia’s case with those of other former officials of the “Georgian Dream.”

“On one side are people accused and convicted of robbing their own citizens—stealing and accumulating money in a country facing serious socio-economic problems; they are implicated in stealing from the army, from school canteens, and in protecting such thefts, and in corruption in general. Imagine, they were stealing money even from kindergartens and free canteens.

In this context, the case against Giorgi Gakharia is fundamentally different for a simple reason: none of these people had the courage to confront the system, and they are not being punished for political opposition to the ‘Dream’ government or Bidzina Ivanishvili, but because they stole more for themselves from the stolen funds than Ivanishvili had allowed them. Giorgi Gakharia opposed the system and Ivanishvili because the country was heading toward the situation we are in today,” Sichinava said.

According to him, in one of the cases against Gakharia—the 20 June case—the prosecution has listed more than 1,060 witnesses, and “not a single one of them incriminates Giorgi Gakharia.” He also emphasized that hearings in the case are held only once a month.

“The goal is not for this case to end in a verdict; it physically cannot end anytime soon. Believe me, before the 20 June case ever reaches a legal conclusion, the ‘Georgian Dream’ will have already ended its political life. I am absolutely convinced of that. Before a verdict is reached in the 20 June case, a lot of political water will flow in this country, and the political end of the ‘Dream’ government will definitely be sealed. The ‘Chorchana case’ is much shorter, but it involves morally heavy issues, a case directed against Georgia’s national interests, and I do not know how a judge can make a moral decision there,” Sichinava said.

Regarding other issues, including recent government personnel changes, Sichinava said this clearly shows “internal conflict and instability within the ruling party.”

“Ivanishvili usually creates the impression and illusion that he controls everything, and then easily punishes people. On top of that, there is the unsuitability of these individuals for the positions they are appointed to. It is unimaginable that Anri Okhanashvili could have been the head of the State Security Service. Mamuka Mdinaradze himself admitted in yesterday’s interview how unsuitable he was for this position. It is unimaginable for the head of the State Security Service to sit in a television studio like this and talk about details of special operations,” he said.

“In the morning you are appointed a general, and in the evening you are turned into a coordinator, placed in a two-room office in the Chancellery, and called a State Minister—that is his luck,” Sichinava said.

He also commented on the creation of the State Minister position, which will be led by Mamuka Mdinaradze.

“Just imagine—in today’s world with messaging apps, chats, and countless coordination tools, why would Gela Geladze and Sulkhan Tamazashvili need a messenger? What will he do—‘he said this, she said that’ and carry it to Kobakhidze? Mdinaradze understands very well that this is a demotion, a kind of pension position for him at this stage, a temporary consolation role given to him,” Sichinava said.