UNM’s Koba Khabazi: Georgia has not had a leader like Saakashvili in recent or remote history; I am ashamed I could not secure his freedom
“I am ashamed of my own powerlessness, that over these five years I have failed to secure Mikheil Saakashvili’s freedom,” declared United National Movement (UNM) politician Koba Khabazi.
Speaking at an opposition rally, Khabazi insisted that modern Georgia has seen no political leader to match the imprisoned former president.
“Friends, every speaker here today has noted that five years have passed since Mikheil Saakashvili was imprisoned. For me, these five years are five years of personal shame. I feel ashamed that I could not see Misha free during this time. I will never rest, and I will never know peace, so long as Misha remains behind bars,” Khabazi told the protesters.
Khabazi stressed that the nation owes Saakashvili an enduring debt for pulling Georgia out of poverty and chaos, adding that his own debt to the former leader was deeply personal.
“I was effectively driven out of Adjara by Aslan Abashidze’s regime, and had it not been for Misha, I would never have been able to return home,” Khabazi recalled.
“A friend once asked me: why Misha? I paused, thought about it, and replied: because I remember everything. I remember the number 234 written on my right hand. Do you know what that number meant? It still burns in my memory like a brand. It meant that at five in the morning, with a hungry young child at home, I was 234th in line when the bread arrived. Remember how, whenever the power briefly came on, a terrifying roar would surge across Tbilisi? I know with absolute certainty that only Misha had the strength to fix that, to lift this country out of the mire. So when people ask, I say without hesitation: yes, Misha. Neither in Georgia’s modern history nor in its distant past have we ever had a leader like him,” Khabazi stated.
The United National Movement is currently holding a demonstration in Tbilisi’s Rike Park, where supporters continue to demand the former president’s release.