During the campaign rally in the town of Gori, near the Russian occupation line, the leader of the ruling Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, blamed the 2008 war on the “external forces” and the Georgian government of the time. He said the Georgian people “will find it in themselves to apologize.” He made no mention of Russia’s responsibility for military invasion and occupation, which continues to this day.
Ivanishvili said:
“Today, we are well aware that the August War of 2008 was not the wish of either the Georgian or the Ossetian people. So, when we unmask those who have ordered the bloody conflict between the brothers and bring to legal account those who have committed this gravest crime, a necessity of restoring relations would necessarily emerge on the agenda. I promise you that the Georgian Nuremberg Process [against the United National Movement officials] will be held very soon and will become one of the preconditions of reconciliation.
“Being able to look reality—however harsh it might have been—in the eye was always one of Georgians’ strong points. Against the background of twelve years of uninterrupted peace, I believe even more strongly that admitting our own mistakes and remembering the centuries-old brotherhood and friendship between Georgians and Ossetians will become the opening steps of the road that would give people living on both sides of the dividing line a determination to restore trust.”
Immediately after the October 26 elections, when those who instigated the war would face justice when all those guilty of destroying the Georgian-Ossetian brotherhood and coexistence will receive their due, harshest legal verdict, we will find it in ourselves to apologize that acting upon orders, the treasonous “National Movement” put our Ossetian sisters and brothers up in flames. And since forgiveness is one of the keystones of our shared – Georgian and Ossetian – Christian faith, I am confident that the fratricidal confrontation instigated by Georgia’s enemies will end with mutual forgiveness and sincere reconciliation.”