MP Irakli Kirtskhalia to ex-PM Irakli Garibashvili: You’ve become just like Saakashvili, bragging about your service while claiming you built modern Georgia

“I want to speak directly to Irakli Garibashvili: tragically, a former leader of our team and prime minister of this country has stooped so low, turning himself into yet another comical figure. Yes, you have gone down Saakashvili’s path,” wrote parliamentary majority leader Irakli Kirtskhalia in a social media post reacting to an open letter published by the former premier.

According to MP Kirtskhalia, Garibashvili has become a mirror image of Mikheil Saakashvili, constantly harping on his own achievements and effectively claiming credit for founding modern Georgia.

“Yesterday, Irakli Garibashvili released yet another letter, offering us a change of narrative.

Unlike his previous statements, which focused on a treacherous, albeit non-existent, trap set for him and his time in custody, this latest manifesto was entirely devoted to his self-proclaimed service to the nation. Giving the Georgian Dream team barely a passing mention, Garibashvili claims personal credit for every win of his second term.

Naturally, his wildly partisan spin could be picked apart and debunked, but the public is hardly interested in such absurd back-and-forth. Everyone knows the full story, and we have no intention of engaging in such childish debate. Our political leadership, along with the broader Georgian public, have a single question to Irakli Garibashvili—one he has spent months evading. Unlike his vacuous letters, a comprehensive answer to this single question would actually be of interest, shedding light once and for all on how he accumulated millions of lari in personal assets, an illicit fortune he himself admitted to before going to prison.

So I say directly to Irakli Garibashvili: instead of showing remorse for your crimes—crimes you yourself admitted to—and answering the question facing the Georgian people, you have chosen to boast about grossly exaggerated achievements. Tragically, someone who was once a key leader in our party and prime minister has sunk to this level, becoming yet another laughingstock.

Yes, you have taken Saakashvili’s path. Despite overwhelming evidence of his illegal acts, Saakashvili still brazenly insists he is innocent. He dismisses the embezzlement of 9 million lari of public funds as mere “suits money” and, like you, has accumulated millions in unexplained wealth he refuses to account for. What’s more, you have become his carbon copy, bragging endlessly about your service, claiming credit for founding modern Georgia, dwelling exclusively on your own role, and being bitter that the Georgian public is punishing you as you deserve rather than praising your “legacy”.

I sincerely hope that in your next letter, which I suspect will be released very soon, you finally stop blowing your own trumpet and bragging as if you personally built Georgia. The only useful thing you can do is answer your former colleagues and the public: where did your millions come from? Though given the trajectory of your recent statements, it is far more likely you will keep following Saakashvili’s playbook and declare yourself the founding father of modern Georgia,” Kirtskhalia concluded.