“There is endless discussion about what they will say in Brussels and Washington. What interests me far more is what people in the villages, in the towns and cities of this country are saying. Must we really sit and wait on their every move? When Antsukhelidze gave his life, he wasn’t waiting to hear what Berlin thought. What matters is what they’re saying here, in Varketili, in Gldani, in Temqa, in Nadzaladevi,” declared Levan Khabeishvili, Chairman of the Political Council of the United National Movement, speaking at a court hearing.
He added that every politician has become a foreign affairs commentator, and that nothing more is to be expected from Brussels.
“They tell you to your face that you’re a banana republic, you have no human rights, you have no functioning judiciary, you have no state institutions. What more is there to say? These people will not do what we must do ourselves. Politicians who keep saying ‘just wait and see what happens in Washington,’ I’ll tell you what will happen: nothing. Nothing, until we act. This is our task, the task of the Georgian people.
I do not hold this nation in such low regard as to believe we are incapable of fighting. So many dissidents are behind bars. Beginning with Paata Burchuladze, continuing with Irakli Nadiradze, there are many of them. Before them, there were the arrested Kiknaze, Tsetskhladze, and others. There is no shortage of dissidents in this country, and those dissidents deserve to be honoured. If someone says ‘I won’t commit to a start and a finish’, fine, say something wiser then, act better.
We live in a state where a killer and a mutilator, Khareba [Zviad Kharazishvili, former Special Tasks Department Head], has been declared a patron saint, and Paata Burchuladze has been declared a criminal. Have you ever heard such nonsense? A renowned Georgian operatic bass has been branded a criminal, whilst their patron is Kharebа. We lack neither dissidents nor opposition figures, yet they choose the strangest battles to fight.
When three out of five statements from the Opposition Alliance concern the United National Movement, that is not normal; it is madness. I, Levan Khabeishvili, will be the one putting up your posters. Just liberate this country, take the right steps, and fight — for goodness’ sake. I will be your last agitator, I will serve every one of you.
I heard these words on television: ‘We’ll begin going out to the regions from May 10.’ And what are you doing today, on April 24? Don’t say things like that, that is my advice. I don’t want to criticise you; I am one of your supporters. But I am desperately curious what you are doing on May 6, the 7th, the 8th, the 9th.
Do you know what they’re squabbling about? ‘He wrote a post, and I have to respond to it.’ ‘We must respond to Misha urgently’ — and why aren’t you responding to Bidzina? You announced a rally for May 25 on March 31, and an entire month has passed with no campaign launched. They say, ‘let’s not build up expectations.’ I find it utterly incomprehensible that a politician would shy away from building expectations. What expectations should you not create? Merab Kostava spent ten years in prison; a dissident, a man who was never afraid, never said ‘I won’t be able to do this and I will say nothing.’ A politician must build expectations and deliver on them. If it doesn’t come off, so be it.
I do not divide the opposition into this side or that side; I consider myself part of you, no better or stronger than anyone else, simply a supporter. Let go the man who has been sentenced to what amounts to life imprisonment. I mean Saakashvili. He has been in prison for five years, and apparently, he cannot even write a post without someone’s approval. Have you taken leave of your senses?
Leave off attacking one another, and if you must, go ahead and tear into me. Just do something. As for Paata Burchuladze, Irakli Nadiradze, and the other dissidents, apparently nothing must be said about them; they must be sidestepped, because there is some fence that is apparently terribly important, and we’re all supposed to be obsessed with Kavelasvili’s fence.
I consider myself part of you. I am no better than anyone here; I am a supporter who came from your own ranks. We do not have much time. They already ban us from standing on the pavement, they suffocate us at every turn, petrol costs four lari. Why is nobody talking about the banking oligarchy? Every family is in debt. Irakli Rukhadze fled Liberty Bank in a blind panic. You borrow ten thousand lari and end up paying back at least eighteen thousand, why is nobody talking about that?” said Levan Khabeishvili.
