Ex-President Saakashvili: Now is not the time to marginalise anyone; Georgia’s true leaders must be utilised, even with one behind bars

“The people who were calling for a leader like Magyar are now saying we should push all leaders aside and fight without leaders. Protest should be as decentralised as possible, but the country’s real leader, or leaders, must be made use of, bearing in mind that the leader is in prison,” former President Mikheil Saakashvili wrote on social media.

Saakashvili said unity is essential and now is not the time to sideline anyone.

“Yesterday, against the backdrop of Serbia, many people said we should wait for the 2028 elections. In reality, protesters forced Vučić to call snap elections (though he banned all the main opposition parties in advance).

Until recently, it was mostly the people demanding a leader like Magyar who were now saying we should push all leaders aside and fight without leaders. The truth lies in the middle. Protest should be as decentralised as possible, but the country’s real leader, or leaders, must be made use of, bearing in mind that the leader is in prison.

We need those who still have freedom of movement across the country to take action, dispersing in a way that minimises the risk of arrest.

This is no time to sideline anyone. If people had listened to me in 2024 and we had gone forward with a single centre, Ivanishvili would no longer exist. Now, too, the only recipe is unity. That is how it was in Hungary, and that is how it happened in Serbia.

I personally added ‘Strength is in Unity’ to Georgia’s coat of arms,” Saakashvili wrote.