Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy overcame their pride and prejudices to recognize each other’s true qualities and love. But no such happy ending was in store for the two estranged men – ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and ex-banker Mamuka Khazaradze – after the President tried, and failed, to marry their groupings into a “Neither GD – nor UNM” alliance. Three days of turbulent wedding preparations ended in a disaster, and for good reason: not only are the two men, Gakharia and Khazaradze, now legally prohibited from kissing, but street talk suggests that ambition, inexperience, and real or perceived deviousness may have played a significant role. One way or another, this was THE topic on air.
In this week’s Talk On Air, Gigi recounts the failed efforts of two opposition centers to unite – a Netflix-style clumsy Georgian drama so convoluted that its plot points unfolded on TV.
Wake up, Georgia!
It was Monday morning, 41 days before the vote—time to get down to real work and perhaps to stop the months-long countdown to Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “flight home to Moscow,” which started to look increasingly vain.
“We need to wake up,” declared Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of Lelo and the Strong Georgia platform, the dark shadows under his eyes, as he appeared on Wake up, Georgia, the newly launched morning show on the opposition-leaning Formula.
Indeed, time is running out: before September 27, the parties must file their MP lists with the election administration. For months, speculations abounded that Khazaradze’s Strong Georgia and ex-PM Gakharia’s For Georgia may bring together undecided voters who hate GD but fear UNMs’ return. The talk show hosts, looking for an exclusive for their opening show, pushed Khazaradze to say whether he would run with Gakharia.
“I am open to any talks (…) I have no personal issues with Giorgi Gakharia,” he responded. But as if fearing whether people would bless their marriage (for some – against nature), he added: “If we start negotiations tomorrow, will it be acceptable to our voters? Will (our union) give us synergy? (…) If it gives us synergy…” he trailed off wistfully as if hoping that their unity could effectively help pull the country out of the nightmare of the Georgian Dream.
The Lady makes the first step
Since men in Georgia are less daring to take the first step, Madam President Salome Zurabishvili both asked them out and invited them into her Orbeliani Palace. Hours after Khazaradze’s wake-up call from Formula TV studio, Zurabishvili, apparently (almost) certain that the two men were craving some face-saving mediation, publicly called on them to unite. Given the recent signaling by the President that she was keen to take “greater responsibility” in the context of elections, some interpreted this as readiness to endorse the “positive third center” should it take shape.
But it did not happen the next day or the day after. Still, the President (or Mrs. Dalloway?) demonstrated that rare skill the opposition often lacks: proactive news-making and agenda-setting. And opened the breach that was soon filled…
“We should all understand well” that…
The second day of intense talks was about to end with no results. To win the blame game for the union’s possible failure, someone had to control the narrative. Gakharia moved quickly. After a break in the talks on Wednesday evening, he rushed out of the Orbeliani Palace to appear on Formula TV’s night show and talk about the ongoing saga.
“We (me and my party) have given up practically everything,” Gakharia declared in an apparent attempt to control the narrative, adding: “There are still some commitments that the other side, in particular Khazaradze, has made; at this moment, for some reasons, these commitments are not fulfilled. As it turns out, he cannot reach an agreement with his team.” In one fell stroke, he washed his hands off potential failure, seemingly saved his counterpart’s face, and simultaneously portrayed him as inept at keeping his party in check.
Gakharia then outlined a cunning plan that would see the Lelo/For Georgia union get the votes on par with GD and UNM, form the center coalition, and form the government, relegating both current and former parties to the opposition. He implied the failure of the GD to come first in the race would lead to the disintegration of its MP body, and “some constructive people” may cross the aisle — and join Gakharia.
Given this scenario, said Gakharia in a statesmanlike fashion, we “put the interests of the state above all else.” He also flattered the President, suggesting that such a political scenario would only be feasible if she endorsed the union.
Believe him or not, but I, who did not have eyes in the Orbeliani Palace, was left with the impression that Gakharia and his party had done all they could to make it happen, unlike Lelo…
Then Gakharia went back to the negotiation room. The talks lasted late into the night, after which both men confirmed that they were close to a final deal that would be announced the next day.
Time to really wake up!
Khazaradze’s Strong Georgia platform had already brought together four political actors who delegated negotiation to their leader but seemed cautious about welcoming Gakharia as a senior partner into the coalition. One of them was Freedom Square, a movement of technocrats from the NGO sector, though still new-born and immature in politics.
“I want to thank (Zurabishvili) for dinner for two…but perhaps the dinner for all would be better,” Levan Tsutskiridze, leader of Freedom Square, quipped on the air of Wake Up, Georgia, on September 19. “If this (union) does not bring a result, the responsibility will not lie with the commentators (who call for this unity), but with us,” he said, apparently skeptical of the union’s capacity to mobilize more votes. “It is not only up to him (Gakharia) to say when the talks are over. This coalition comprises four political movements,” concluded Tsutskiridze, irritated at the talk show hosts’ praise for Gakharia’s chutzpah.
Perhaps to his greatest surprise, hours later, Tsutskiridze was widely blamed for breaking off the talks. Gakharia, apparently feeling (or acting) humiliated, bolted: “Unfortunately, the other party seems to have failed to reach an internal consensus,” the For Georgia’s statement read. Khazaradze and Gakharia still met the President in the evening in a last-ditch effort but to no avail.
Irakli Kupradze of Lelo said later on TV Pirveli with Inga Grigolia’s Reaction, “80 percent of the (last) meeting was about Levan Tsutskhiridze’s statement…” which Kupradze suggested was just a pretext for Gakharia to quit.
Blame game
The blame game spilled over to the talk show studios, as expected. And who would miss a mudslinging match in which Georgians already picked their heroes and villains?!
On September 19, TV Pirveli’s Reaction host, Inga Grigolia, a strong supporter of the Gakharia-Khazaradze alliance, first invited Gakharia’s man, Berdia Sichinava, who appeared indignant: Gakharia sacrificed his party’s election number, name, and almost all of its identity, while Khazaradze’s team could not hold it together. “For three days, this man (Khazaradze) failed to convince the coalition (of the value of the union),” Sitchinava lamented. Listening to him, Gakharia was the political grandmaster engaged in talks with an immature partner and chose no relationship over a toxic one.
Irakli Kupradze of Lelo went to the same talk show, too, and as previously, said Gakharia had cold feet at the last moment, while Tsutskiridze’s statement was just a pretext.
Ana Dolidze of Strong Georgia, speaking on Formula’s Day on September 20, presented a vision of diverging management ideologies. She argued that their coalition (the goodies) embraces liberal, horizontal management, and everyone is free to express themselves. By contrast, Gakharia (the baddie) is an authoritarian boss, unwilling to accept dissent within his team – or even those of the opponents. Overall, Dolidze remained on the party message, saying that Gakharia played up the impact of differences in Khazaradze’s coalition.
“Greedy Businessman” vs. “Dirty Politician”
On Friday, the leaders made their final statements.
Giorgi Gakharia said his willingness to “sacrifice his party” had fueled Mamuka Khazaradze’s “greed.” Gakharia’s mea culpa was that he conceded too much at the outset. He re-set the game by laying out three conditions for renewed talks: (1) creating a neutral platform, meaning a new party rather than one or the other side merging into existing coalitions; (2) ensuring equity in decision-making and election lists; and (3), and rejecting any governing coalition with either GD or UNM. Should this not work, Gakharia said, the talks were still useful and opened the possibility for “collaboration” once in the parliament.
Mamuka Khazaradze reiterated that it was Gakharia who quit the talks and said the new conditions were just a “special operation” to escape responsibility. Khazaradze said he was still ready to sign the document on the table at the Orbeliani Palace on September 18.
Not the right person, not the right time…
If you don’t believe one, you can believe both. Remember a word about synergy? Even though the alliance between the two men failed, for the first time in the pre-election campaign, we really felt that the opposition was not (only) bashing Ivanishvili but had its own life, however turbulent.
Apart from pride and prejudice, many other factors tore the two men apart. As their situationship degenerates into mutual accusations, the season for mutual bashing among opposition parties now seems open.
One thing I personally learned is that if I find time to go on a date in the pre-election season, it will not be near the Orbeliani Palace.
Also, we hear that President Zurabishivli will hold a press briefing today, September 23. Will she hold the prime spot on talk shows this week?! Let us see.