Ex-President Saakashvili: Political spectrum seems asleep; I refuse to play by rules and want to cry out: wake up, take action, or we are doomed

“The political spectrum seems completely asleep. I refuse to play by the established rules of the game, and I want to cry out at the top of my voice: people, wake up, take action, or we are doomed,” wrote the former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, on social media.

According to Saakashvili, the choice now is stark: either victory or death.

“The situation is far graver than the fate of individual political parties or people. We must look at what is happening in the region. Russia is waging a regional war of conquest. Bidzina Ivanishvili has offered to recreate the Pétain regime here in Georgia. What was the Pétain regime?

During the Second World War, the French Marshal Pétain struck a deal with Hitler. France would not join the anti-German coalition; internally, it would eliminate or imprison Hitler’s enemies and hitch its entire economy to ties with Germany. In exchange, no one would interfere with Pétain’s domestic governance. He was granted autonomy, and the main part of France escaped direct German occupation. Pétain repackaged this to the public as peace and the avoidance of war. Think about it – doesn’t that sound familiar?

The illusion of ‘peace’ that Georgians think they have under the Georgian Dream is a bitter deception.

Hitler had identical arrangements with Hungary, Norway, and Italy. What is happening between Russia and Georgia right now is exactly the same, copy-pasted. However, when Germany faced hardships in the war, it cast aside its allied puppet regimes and launched full-scale, incredibly bloody occupations of all those countries. In most cases, those occupations lasted only a few months before Germany’s total collapse.

Right now, Russia is facing immense hardships in Ukraine. Sensing an inevitable collapse, Putin has started hunting for a desperate way out. This is precisely what is driving the recent Russian manoeuvres in the Tskhinvali region. It is blackmail aimed at forcing Ivanishvili to recognise the independence of the occupied lands. Ivanishvili may pretend he wants closer ties with the West, but neither Washington nor Brussels will accommodate or protect this regime in its current guise. For Putin, however, gaining absolute physical control over Georgia would be remarkably easy. Through his greed and lack of foresight, Ivanishvili has already paved the way. The economy, including tourism, is entirely dependent on Russia. While this suits Ivanishvili for his personal enrichment, it is a total catastrophe for the country. All it would take is for Russia to declare an embargo, halt the flow of tourists, have two military vehicles block the main highway from Tskhinvali, and fire a single missile at the Lugar Laboratory. Ivanishvili would flee instantly, and a Russian ruler would sit directly in Tbilisi, leaving pools of blood and making us feel the full stench and cruelty of the Russian boot.

We are fast approaching this reality, yet the political spectrum seems asleep. Therefore, seeing this mortal danger, I refuse to play by the established rules of the game, and I want to cry out at the top of my voice: people, wake up, take action, or we are doomed! We must save our children. I want my five-month-old grandson, Iliko Saakashvili, to have a homeland and to be proud of his heritage.

The question now stands: either victory or death. We must do everything in our power to ensure it is the enemy’s death and our victory,” Saakashvili wrote.