Irakli Gharibashvili is talking to Ivanishvili, trying to elicit some sympathy from him, telling him how he was mistreated by unscrupulous officials, Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze, and how he ended up in a prison cell despite not having committed the alleged offense - Nugzar Tsiklauri, one of the leaders of the Coalition for Change, said this while appearing on PalitraNews’ program “Day's Newsroom,” commenting on another letter sent from a penitentiary by former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

According to Tsiklauri, if Gharibashvili finds the courage to expose the regime with specific facts, everyone will see it, but until then, each of his letters will lose its ability to make an impression on the public.

“In one of his first letters, Irakli Gharibashvili said that he initially agreed to a humiliating deal and went to prison without saying a word. This in itself speaks to the collapse that exists in government corridors. A person who believes that he has done nothing wrong agreed to a deal under which he would have to remain in prison, but says, ‘The pressure on me continued, and that is the only reason I spoke out.’ He also says that he is doing this to save himself and his family. If this is going to be the ‘leitmotif’ of his letters - and so far, that is the case - that he is trying to save his family, and if these statements, this so-called partial exposure, are motivated solely by that, then I think that whether he writes seven letters or twice as many, it will have no effect whatsoever.

“But if he decides to truly expose the anti-democratic and anti-human regime that is currently in power, we will all see the strength of his arguments or revelations.

“It would be better to see his ultimate intentions through his letters. It is interesting to see how this will develop, what facts and arguments Irakli Gharibashvili intends to present in support of these accusations. For now, my impression is that he is talking to Ivanishvili, trying to elicit a little sympathy from him and telling him how he was mistreated by unscrupulous officials, in the form of Kobakhidze and Mdinaradze, and how he ended up in a prison cell despite not having committed the alleged offense.

“If he gets past this and, instead of speaking to his ‘benefactor,’ starts speaking to the Georgian people, to Georgian voters, including those Georgian Dream voters who have a certain degree of trust in him, then the situation will change. Until then, it is difficult for me to predict how his letters will develop in tone or how serious his accusations will become.”

Regarding the part of the letter in which he compares Georgian Dream to the United National Movement, Tsiklauri said that the United National Movement has been a political force Garibashvili has hated since 2012.

“For him, this means that he is comparing Georgian Dream to something very bad. In his mind, perhaps, the ruling regime is now obeying neither the law nor democracy, but rather some completely different arrangements, and so on. In any case, he himself was part of this anti-Georgian regime. If he finds the courage to expose this regime, including by presenting specific facts, we will all see it. Until then, each of his letters will lose its ability to make an impression on society. He should probably take this into account,” Tsiklauri said.

In addition, while appearing on the program, he assessed the ongoing developments surrounding the funding of the Political School of Armaz Akhvlediani and said that “in reality, there is a demonization of political figures and parties, as well as non-governmental organizations and political schools.”

“The political logic of Georgian Dream over the past two years has been based on the idea that free thought, the possibility of free political activity, and engagement with Europe should be completely driven out of Georgia’s political space. Any independent political party - and you know that there is talk of banning political parties - any non-governmental organization or media outlet that is undesirable to them is placed within these stereotypes and clichés.

“What are these stereotypes? Supposedly, there is a ‘deep state’; there is a team of enemies trying to destabilize the country. They have a general framework and place any person or organization within that framework. In reality, there is a demonization of political figures and parties, as well as non-governmental organizations and political schools.

“The other side of this is an increasingly intensifying attack on European institutions and European society, which clearly indicates that Georgian Dream increasingly feels that integration into the European Union or other European structures may no longer determine its policy in the future.”

As for whether Armaz Akhvlediani should expect legal proceedings to be initiated against him, Tsiklauri said that such an expectation is entirely possible.

“This is the expulsion of free thought from Georgia’s political space, and it fits completely within the context of which, unfortunately, we are both participants and witnesses,” Nugzar Tsiklauri said.

Regarding the issue of banning political parties and the amended lawsuit submitted by Georgian Dream to the Constitutional Court, the politician said that political parties have effectively already been banned.

“The destruction of the entire opposition field is now Georgian Dream’s objective. They even said this about [Giorgi] Gakharia: that when they entered Parliament, they were not treated as well as they should have been, and that is why we filed the lawsuit.

“I believe political parties are already abolished. Only the formal aspect remains. Political party leaders are being sent to prison, and there are no political rights left. Baramidze was arrested for commenting on an event that took place 34 years ago.

“When we talk about the removal of free thought from the political space, this is precisely what it means: sending people to prison, suppressing ideas, and persecuting every person or organization that holds an independent political view,” Nugzar Tsiklauri said.