Bidzina Ivanishvili has issued a letter on the 13th anniversary of the Georgian Dream victory in the 2012 elections. “Another test awaits us on October 4,” he writes in the letter, which contains numerous anti-Western messages similar to statements made by his team members. At the same time, Ivanishvili mentions “external enemies” and “agents.” He directly refers to these agents as opposition parties and the civil society sector. In his lengthy letter, Ivanishvili does not mention Russia at all, nor “the Deep State” or the “global war party,” which the Georgian Dream actively uses in its propaganda.
“Thirteen years have passed since the most significant victory in the history of independent Georgia. October 1 has become a symbol for modern Georgia — a symbol of unity, dignity, and the triumph of good over evil!
October 1, 2012, holds its rightful and distinguished place among the remarkable victories achieved throughout Georgia’s centuries-old history, because this day became the key dividing line in our country’s recent 35-year history of independence — between, on the one hand, authoritarianism, submission to foreign interests, fear, and terror, and, on the other hand, democracy, loyalty to national sovereignty, and freedom!
This day does not belong to specific individuals or to any political party. The actual creator of October 1 is the Georgian people — faithful to the admonitions of our ancestors, to our traditions, and to Christian values. These people have never bowed their heads to enemies, whether internal or external!
The Georgian people are distinguished by one special trait, developed over the course of our centuries-long struggle: in critical moments for the country, when the threat of destruction becomes truly real, we always choose the right side, we always manage to distinguish black from white, and we stand firmly where freedom, justice, mutual respect, love, dignity, and independence are to be found.
October 1, 2012, was built upon precisely these ideals and became the inevitable conclusion of the struggle that I, together with the Georgian Dream and, above all, with the Georgian people, began in 2011 against internal enemies subservient to external powers.
Thirteen years is indeed a long time, yet the ideals of October 1, 2012, have not disappeared; these values remain the primary foundation of our team’s work. The best judge of this remains, once again, the wise Georgian people, who continue to give us the right to represent them today, just as they did in 2012, and who cannot be deceived by lies, propaganda, or promises.
Since that historic victory, together we have strived for greater well-being, prosperity, and economic stability. Step by step, we are moving toward genuine independence and solid sovereignty. Yet, along this path, the main obstacle has been those forces that foster radicalism, confrontation, and artificial hostility — forces that, this time under the name of the opposition, fight against their own people and country, trying to drag us back into the past, into stagnation, and into subservience to foreign interests.
Despite their efforts, we have achieved truly tangible results. If we set aside propaganda and harsh rhetoric, it is clear that since regaining independence, the Georgian Dream has been the only governing power to maintain continuous peace. At the same time, there is not a single sector in which the situation has not fundamentally improved compared to 2012. This is confirmed by numerous international rankings, objective research based on solid criteria, and, most importantly, by the Georgian people themselves, who continue to trust us and to grant us the mandate to govern the country!
The past thirteen years are truly a logical continuation of our centuries-long existence. In 2012, we not only survived but also triumphed. However, if we do not safeguard the freedom we have gained, we will lose everything we have built over all these years. Georgia’s history is precisely this — a continuous struggle, which, at different times, has manifested itself in self-sacrifice for survival, in winning independence, in establishing a state worthy of respect, and in preserving the main pillars of Georgian identity: homeland, language, and faith.
Today, we are still fighting, though against a transformed enemy and new challenges. The line of our struggle now runs along maintaining peace and stability, which is the only path toward development, a better future, and a united Georgia.
We must clearly understand that we are once again walking a knife-edge today, and we cannot afford to stumble. We must recognize that the ongoing struggle for sovereignty and independence requires constant vigilance.
Of course, during the past thirteen years, mistakes were made, but fortunately not to the extent that would have threatened our statehood or physical existence, nor to a scale that could not be corrected or remedied.
Personally, for me, the most difficult aspect is the treacherous betrayal that has occurred within our own team over the years. This betrayal not only placed Georgian Dream in crisis but also created a real danger of diverting the country from its development trajectory and returning its leadership to forces subservient to foreign interests. In the past, several members of our team decided that placing themselves under the influence of powerful foreign actors, or pursuing personal comfort at the expense of our citizens’ interests, could bring them great benefit.
Accordingly, they were willing to put aside the interests of the team and the country — yet we endured this too! Throughout this process, just as since 2011, the steadfast support of Georgian society and our wise people has given us strength and determination, reinforcing the belief that we can overcome every difficulty.
And indeed, it was precisely constant vigilance, standing on the side of truth, and persistent attention to strengthening sovereignty that brought us to the point where we exposed every traitor and forced internal enemies to admit that their actions were not driven by national interests, but by foreign ones. Those specific foreign forces hiding behind the mask of a friend and partner were compelled to openly acknowledge that they demand subservience to their interests from us.
For that reason, pressure and blackmail against our country and people have increased and taken many forms. Naturally, against the backdrop of external challenges and the destructive wars unfolding in the region, attacks on our sovereignty are becoming more frequent and sharper. Now, however, these particular forces must carry out these attacks not by the hand of internal enemies — as they did for years — but by the hand of external adversaries.
Their domestic agents, who are spread throughout opposition parties and the so‑called non‑governmental sector, may appear weakened at first glance. However, we must clearly understand what forces are trying to subordinate our country to their own interests.
It is no problem for them to divert the public’s attention by replacing one recognizable face with another, one party with another, or even one television station with another. They can put forward new foreign politicians or supposedly influential experts who will replace people already exposed as liars. What they fail to grasp is that they can no longer fool us. Today, our society listens attentively to ideas and arguments, drawing logical conclusions based on thorough analysis. Crucially, for the Georgian people, authority is no longer conferred by particular names, titles, or artificially manufactured influential politicians — it is granted by truth.
And yet, over the past thirteen years, the principal achievement of Georgian Dream has been that the team has learned to assess events and facts correctly. Another significant gain is that society has matured alongside us and is perfectly capable of sound analysis, so that everything can have its proper name. Together with the Georgian people, we successfully neutralised the principal weapon that the previous government had acquired from foreign patrons — the tactic of presenting white as black, construction as destruction, and good as evil. Together with society, we successfully neutralised the imposed pseudo‑liberal ideology that would portray a criminal regime as the light of democracy but call a genuinely democratic government a dictatorship. Today, we no longer make qualitative errors in judging who is a friend and who is a foe. We have thoroughly analysed that no foreign power fights for our benefit; all are driven by their own interests and desires.
Of course, we do not refuse partnership with anyone, but this must never come at the expense of our country’s sovereignty or through the use of Georgia. We firmly believe that collaboration and friendship must be mutual.
Regarding the defense of our unity, the ideals of October 1, and the gains and achievements of the past years, we face another test on October 4. In the upcoming local elections, the unmasked domestic and foreign enemies see another opportunity to provoke disorder, a coup, and to fulfill their own goals.
More and more people are becoming convinced of their true intentions, and their support is diminishing daily. Today, Georgia’s state institutions are stronger than ever before, which convinces these forces that the only chance left to them is to resort to even greater radicalism — a direct attack on the state and, consequently, on the people.
On October 4, we have the opportunity to demonstrate once again that our struggle today is reflected at the ballot box — in casting our votes, making a free choice, and preserving peace and stability. Today, we have the opportunity to finally and peacefully consolidate the victory achieved in 2012, to leave radicalism and mutual confrontation behind, and then to fight for greater development and prosperity, to overcome poverty, strengthen our sovereignty, and peacefully unite the country”.
On October 1, 2012, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia, in which the Georgian Dream coalition, founded by Ivanishvili, emerged victorious. The Georgian Dream has been governing the country for 13 years. During this period, Ivanishvili has formally “stepped away” from politics twice and then “returned,” but in reality, Bidzina Ivanishvili has remained the country’s shadow ruler throughout these 13 years.
