“Anyone who thought Mikheil Saakashvili would change was foolish. Nothing can change him, whether we like it or not,” political analyst Irakli Melashvili said on the program “Resume” on PalitraNews, commenting on recent statements by Georgia’s third president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to Melashvili, Saakashvili rejects coalition governance because of his mentality.

“Saakashvili knows very well that a significant part of Georgia’s population is not interested in coalitions. What he wrote about coalitions reflects his mentality — for him, there are no partners; the main thing is that others must obey him. In other words, they must be ‘bought’; for him, a coalition means buying people and entering into corrupt deals.

It is actually good that Saakashvili said this openly. Those of us who have long experience working with him already knew and used to say: what coalition, under this man’s leadership? Everyone has their own choice, and those who go down this path are essentially supporting authoritarianism in Georgia again — replacing one leader with another. It is good that this is now out in the open; the rest is up to Georgian society,” Melashvili said.

He also spoke about Georgia–Russia relations, stating that restoring relations is impossible without giving up Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which, he said, the Georgian government cannot do.

“Ivanishvili had hoped that if Georgia stopped its anti-Russian rhetoric, things would be resolved. There was such an illusion — a very Soviet-style view of relations with the West and Russia. They believed that if they ‘struck’ Europe, which they thought could do nothing beyond passing resolutions and making statements, it would bring results in relations with Russia. But when it comes to dialogue with Russia, the first party that does not actually want it is the Georgian government itself, for one simple reason: in the very first meeting, it would become clear that it is all a bluff. They created expectations in the population that relations with Russia would improve, but it turned out that nothing is improving.

Either they would have to recognize and give up Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which they cannot do, or they are already in confrontation with Russia. Russia has never been enthusiastic about Ivanishvili’s policy. For ten years, Russia has consistently stated that it is ready to restore diplomatic relations and is waiting for the Georgian side, but the Georgian side cannot do it because Russia does not offer what it expects in return,” Melashvili said.