Ian Kelly, former U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, and David J. Kramer, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, in their op-ed published in The Hill newspaper, call on the U.S. to sanction Georgian ruling party Georgian Dream’s founder and current Honorary Chairman, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and his party, to save Georgia’s democracy from authoritarianism.
“The U.S. should make clear it will use its financial leverage against Ivanishvili himself and his party should they continue on a path that would be disastrous for the Georgian people and the U.S.-Georgian relationship,” says the op-ed.
According to the Voice of America’s Georgian service, the U.S. has already drafted a sanctions package against Ivanishvili, but if and when it will be imposed is unknown.
Ian Kelly and David Kramer say that recent visa and financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Georgian officials and individuals fell short because they did not include Bidzina Ivanishvili, “the man responsible for Georgia’s authoritarian and pro-Russian direction.”
The op-ed summarizes Ivanishvili’s background and his track record as an informal ruler: the oligarch businessman who made his fortune in Russia, and since 2012, an unofficial ruler of the government who has sought to improve relations with Moscow. It also highlights that Russian-style legislation, including the Foreign Agents Law aimed at cracking down on civil society and the anti-LGBT law restricting the rights of sexual minorities, were passed by his party, Georgian Dream. In addition, the op-ed notes that Ivanishvili blames the previous government and its leader, ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, for starting the war in 2008.
The authors also cite Ivanishvili’s “fire-breathing” anti-Western public speeches after his official return to politics late last year, as well as his unpopular “Global War Party” conspiracy, according to which Western leaders are funding the Georgian opposition to reinstall Saakashvili and open a “second front” in Russia’s war against Ukraine in Georgia. “Ivanishvili asserted that the ruling party would prevent such an outcome “at any cost,” a not-so-veiled threat to resort to election manipulation,” the authors note. They also warn of Ivanishvili’s promise to ban the opposition after the elections.
“Georgian Dream already controls all three branches of government. By promising to outlaw the opposition and cripple civil society and independent media, Ivanishvili and Kobakhidze are in essence describing an anti-Western totalitarian regime ruling a pro-Western population,” the op-ed says, adding: “Instead, the U.S. must tell Ivanishvili that if he rigs the October election in his favor, or carries out his threat to ban the opposition, he and his billions will face the full brunt of Treasury Deparmtment financial sanctions.”
Moreover, the authors note that the U.S. should have already sanctioned Ivanishvili months ago, “including back when he and his stooges in the government and Parliament were launching nasty rhetorical attacks against the previous U.S. ambassador and members of Congress.”
“If we convince him we will impose costly personal sanctions if he carries out his implicit threat to change the election results — and his explicit threat to ban all opposition and turn Georgia into an anti-Western dictatorship — we could deter him from doing so,” the letter reads.
The authors warn of the concerns about election rigging and the threats faced by civil society, and stress “international election observers will need to be vigilant in calling out any fraud and abuse.” They add: “The United States and its allies must stand firm against legitimizing a fraudulent election.”
Citing polls showing that Georgians are strongly pro-American, pro-European Union, pro-NATO, and pro-democracy, the authors note that “Georgia, once a vibrant democracy in a difficult neighborhood, has become a problem instead of a partner,” over which the U.S. and EU have “considerable interests and influence” that they can exercise.
“Dangling the threat of painful, targeted sanctions now could save the people of Georgia from the pro-Russian, authoritarian future the oligarch has promised them,” the op-ed concludes.
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