Ivanishvili on 6 Years of Progress
In his address to his party, the government and the nation today, the new Party Chairman of the Georgian Dream ruling party, ex-Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, spoke of the progress the country has made in the past six years since his former coalition came to power, ousting ex-President Misha Saakashvili's United National Movement.
"Today, the citizens of Georgia are genuinely free and protected from any arbitrariness from the state," Ivanishvili claimed. "This was one of the key tasks of national importance facing our people since gaining independence. They are democratically electing authorities and themselves vest legitimacy to state governance. Today, instead of authorities coming to power through electoral fraud, intimidation and violence, we have authorities selected based on the people’s trust, authorities that, understandably, may not be flawless, but certainly are focused on a human being as the supreme value. Aside from everything else, just mentioning access to universal healthcare would suffice to illustrate this point," he said.
"Private property, one of the key social institutions and the foundation of unrestrained human development, which was trampled underfoot and obliterated under the previous authorities, is fully protected and inviolable today," the new Party Chairman went on. "There is no more elite corruption under which industries would be appropriated and monopolized by the authorities and its ingrained business circles, and just the thought of entering these industries would cost honest and talented entrepreneurs many years behind bars and loss of all property."
He went on to highlight that business, as the main source of wealth and prosperity in the country, is "free and protected."
"This is exactly what preconditioned the fact that, despite the recent years’ instability and shifts in world economy, Georgia, according to all international organizations, is one of the most attractive and interesting countries in terms of capital investment. Last year’s foreign direct investments reached an all-time high in Georgia’s history. According to the statistics for the past five years, Georgia is the leader in the region in terms of economic growth. According to the latest, upgraded data from the International Monetary Fund, by economic growth outlook for the next six years Georgia is the leader not only in the region but among European and Central Asian countries as well."
Ivanishvili then spoke of judicial independence and the de-politicization of the law enforcement bodies.
"We have achieved radical breakthrough in protecting human rights in the penitentiary system," he noted. "We have successfully completed the difficult and challenging process of constitutional reform. Consequently, instead of a distorted constitution twisted only to put in place a formal foundation for one person’s perpetual rule, we have a genuine fundamental law meeting European standards and focusing on people’s governance. This constitution is the pillar and precondition of Georgia’s irreversible democratic progress! Obvious progress can be found in terms of foreign policy."
The next part of his speech put the spotlight on foreign policy, as he confirmed Georgia's Western aspirations.
"Georgia is as close to Europe and NATO as ever before—we are an associated member of the unified European family, and it has already been confirmed legally. Free trade and a visa waiver with Europe are in force and enjoyed by scores of people. Our relations with our strategic ally, the United States of America, have strengthened and deepened tremendously. We have already partially succeeded in de-escalating relations with Russia, and we hope that, with the help of our international partners, it will be possible to switch to the mode of mutual heeding and dialogue with Russia, which will put in place prospects of gradually fulfilling our state objectives.
"In conclusion, over the past decades, in the rapidly changing, unpredictable world facing the threats of terrorism and a global armed conflict, with the unprecedentedly high level of clash of geopolitical and geo-economic interests, we have succeeded in ensuring security and peace for Georgia’s citizens, and we have maintained stability."
Bidzina Ivanishvili was elected as Chairman of the Georgian Dream Democratic Georgia party at its 5th Convention. Ivanishvili is returning to lead the party he founded in 2012.
Image source: 1tv.ge
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