Ex-President Saakashvili: Georgia is a burning house being abandoned by its people; we must break free first, then we will know how to rebuild

“I am stunned by what this Constitutional Court is considering and on what basis it is making its decision,” former President Mikheil Saakashvili told the court hearing.

Saakashvili said the party ban lawsuit declares the Rose Revolution an illegal coup carried out on foreign orders.

“On foreign orders? The US Ambassador at the time, Richard Miles, begged us to accept the rigged election results, and he is still very angry that I didn’t listen to him and that we removed Shevardnadze. To this day, he writes vile things about me. The American ambassador back then was a complete degenerate. He was the US representative at the time and our primary opponent. The Rose Revolution was the catalyst that brought genuine development to Georgia, transforming it into the world’s top reformer. We are a country of grand ideas; indeed, as the US President declared, we were once the world’s beacon of democracy.

In 2007, we had 13% economic growth. Then came the 2008 war, which has now been declared a crime we provoked. If these people stay in power, I think it is clear what will happen to the country. This country is heading for total ruin. Can’t you see that the country is on fire? We no longer have borders or defence. What kind of peace do we have? This is a house on fire, and its residents are fleeing. We must escape this burning house with youthful energy and determination, and then we know how to fix it.

We will build a Georgia where citizens can afford medicine and food, support their children comfortably, and take an annual holiday. We envision a nation where people can buy clothes, travel abroad at least once every two years, and simply enjoy a normal, fulfilling life. We must give young people loans so they can buy a flat from the start. We will build such a Georgia without difficulty as soon as these people are gone. Kotsebi, what have you turned this flourishing, developed, successful country into, you wretches?! Kotsebi, don’t you deserve to have the Georgian people grab you by the scruff of the neck and rub your faces in your own filth?! Young people, there’s no need to invent anything new. What is needed is organisation and unity,” Saakashvili said.