The past is rewritten so fast that you don’t know what will happen yesterday.
- A Soviet joke.
November 23 marks twenty years since Georgia’s Rose Revolution, a seminal event in Georgia’s modern history. On the 20th anniversary of the Rose Revolution its legacy remains controversial, not least due to its importance for current Georgian politics and, in a wider picture, the implication of “color revolutions” for what Russia calls its “near abroad”. On the one hand, Georgia made a phenomenal leap forward during 2004-2012. On the other, many avoidable mistakes of the young leaders of the Rose Revolution continue to haunt the country to date.
With the creeping authoritarianism around the globe and democratic backsliding a sad fact of life for most countries in the region, laying a claim to the past has become a favorite pastime of anti-democratic regimes. Too much free time to ponder about historical woes or a cunning attempt to reshape public opinion through propaganda and undermine international order? Was it Putin’s obsession with Russia’s Soviet past which caused him to write at length about Ukraine’s history or was he trying to delegitimize Ukraine prior to the planned invasion? Similarly, was Putin guided by academic motives when inventing a parallel version of Georgia’s history (with a particular emphasis on the Tskhinvali Region/“South Ossetia”) or was he retroactively creating a narrative to justify Russia’s aggressive war in 2008, aimed at thwarting Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and NATO expansion? In the former case, Ukrainian politicians acted with pragmatism and dignity, responding to Putin at highest political levels. Georgians were less fortunate: the Georgian Dream government stated that it was for historians to respond.
“Who controls the past, controls the future”, runs George Orwell’s famous line from his prophetic “1984”, a novel which has since turned into a playbook. A battle for the past has been raging in Georgia since 2012, when Georgian Dream (GD), a political conglomerate created by a Russian-made billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won the parliamentary elections. It was the first (and the last) time in the history of modern Georgia when power changed hands through democratic elections. Peaceful and orderly transfer of power was among UNM’s principal legacies. This presented Georgia with a unique chance to surge forward and address the problems which had led to the downfall of the Saakashvili government. Instead, the victors immediately set on a road of political prosecution of their predecessors, freed Russian spies from prisons as “political prisoners” (and have not found one since), unleashed organized mob violence against opponents and minorities (8 February and 17 May 2013 were only the first examples of acting through such proxy groups), embarked on a journey of historical revisionism, as well as seized power in all municipal self-governments through a series of violent attacks in the following months.
Welcoming Georgia’s democratic transition and visibly delighted to witness the ousting of the Saakashvili government (which had long fallen out of favor in Westen capitals), the world was looking the other way as all of this was unfolding. Since then, GD propaganda machine has continuously attacked Georgia’s recent past, by labeling the post Rose Revolution period as “Bloody Nine Years”.
“We inherited a country which was destroyed, literally ruined,” PM Gharibashvili used to repeat, insulting the intelligence of anyone with a remote knowledge of Georgia in 2003 as compared to Georgia in 2012. Indeed, as context is always key and Georgia 2012 can only be compared to Georgia 2003, let us recall what life was like in this small but proud country prior to the Rose Revolution:
In 2003, Georgia was a failed state, riddled with endemic corruption. The Shevardnadze government was unable to pay even the minuscule salaries of public servants. Monthly pensions amounted to approximately Euro 8 and remained unpaid for months, even years. Key government ministers (including Defense, State Security, Interior Ministers) were appointed or vetted by the Kremlin.
The country was a sanctuary for organized crime bosses. It was run inter alia by criminal syndicates, who worked hand in hand with those who were supposed to hunt them – i.e., the police and the state security service. Parts of Georgia (e.g., Svaneti and Pankisi) were lawless territories. Others like Ajara and Javakheti were de facto independent (Ajara was administered as a fiefdom by a strongman, who reported directly to Moscow, while Javakheti was run by local clans, protected by the Russian military base stationed in Akhalkalaki). Kidnappings for ransom were commonplace. Foreign businessmen and scores of Georgians were routinely abducted in broad daylight. Many were killed. Among those kidnapped and killed was a brother of the current Tbilisi Mayor and then a footballer of AC Millan, Kakha Kaladze. Police brutality and frequent killings of inmates did not lead to street protests as this was seen as insurmountable reality. Blackouts were a daily routine, with only a few hours of electricity supply per day, despite Georgia’s vast hydropower potential (notably, Georgia became a net energy exporter soon after the Rose Revolution). Critical infrastructure was dilapidated. It took 5 hours to drive from Zugdidi to Mestia, a distance of only 135 kilometers. The only remaining international airport was hopelessly outdated. Post-Soviet legislation along with massive, incompetent bureaucracy made economic progress nearly impossible.
All this changed within the first two years of the Rose Revolution. Soon Georgia joined the ranks of the least corrupt and safest countries in the world. Corruption was rooted out from the education system, introducing nationwide scholastic aptitude exams, which opened up new opportunities for the previously disadvantaged youth as well as minority and regional groups. Only 6 out of 27 taxes remained, while about 90% of the existing licenses and permits were abolished (thus eradicating areas of potential corruption and shocking the formerly privileged social groups). Georgia’s public services became among the most efficient in the region, introducing a one-stop/single-window approach to registering businesses, paying taxes, clearing goods through customs, as well as issuing passports, national ID cards, construction permits and licenses. Despite the Russian energy blockage, the Russian trade embargo (following a spy scandal), the outright Russian invasion and the world financial crisis, Georgia’s economy grew at an average annual rate of just under 7% between 2004 and 2012, fundamentally transforming the country and allowing the development of new infrastructure, renovation of cities and cultural heritage sites, increase of salaries and pensions. As a result of these reforms, the World Bank recognized Georgia as the World’s number 1 reformer for a 5-year period of 2006-2011.
By the end of Saakashvili’s second term, however, certain authoritarian tendencies started to creep in. Judicial independence remained a problem. The situation in prisons was far from acceptable, while the Media and business community were complaining about unfair treatment. All these issues were legitimate and needed to be addressed. Many Georgians, including the post Rose Revolution generation, which grew up in crime- and corruption-free Georgia, were ready to move on.
In 2012 the world was still under the illusion that Putin’s Russia was a strategic partner, not an enemy. The West preferred to think that a resurgent empire, which had engaged in numerous acts of state terrorism (apartment bombings, Litvinenko, Yandarbiyev) could be tamed through engagement. NATO and the EU were guided by an underlying belief that, as Francis Fukuyama had poetically phrased it after the end of the Cold War, history had ended. The Russia Reset policy was blooming, against all logic. “Democratic Naivete” – a policy of appeasing and empowering anti-Western regimes bent on destroying the post-Cold War world order, a policy of naively looking the other way and pretending not to see the obvious – was the prevailing mood in key Western capitals.
Today Georgia is a captured state. Numerous reputable international sources maintain that Ivanishvili, whose wealth amounts to a third of Georgia’s GDP, has captured the state, turning democratic institutions into a mockery. He has handpicked and installed previously unknown persons with no political biography into positions of power, with personal loyalty towards him often the only factor behind such appointments. Prime Minister Gharibashvili, who has been engulfed in corruption scandals the likes of which would topple any democratic government (e.g., using the government airplane to fly his family members on private tours and transferring valuable state property to his wife), is Ivanishvili’s former personal assistant. Georgia’s Healthcare Minister used to be Ivanishvili’s family doctor. The Healthcare Minister during the pandemic was Mrs. Ivanishvili’s personal dentist (perhaps explaining Georgia’s catastrophic fatality figures during the pandemic, which were among the highest in the world). The State Security Minister is his former personal bodyguard. A former Prime Minister and a former Minister of Economy both worked in Ivanishvili’s family-owned bank.
For the first time in its history, Georgia has a sanctioned judiciary. In April 2023, the US State Secretary designated 4 top Georgian judges for political corruption and undermining the country’s judicial system. Russian subversive influence is an increasingly obvious factor. Former president Saakashvili, the engine behind the Rose Revolution, remains incarcerated, based in part for exercising his sole power to pardon prisoners while in office. In March 2023 GD attempted but failed, due to massive youth protests, to enact a foreign agents’ law (so-called “Russian Law”), which would have openly sabotaged Georgia’s EU integration process. GD government continues to receive accolades from top Russian officials for “bravely standing up to Western pressure”. In parallel, GD leaders continue to claim that a certain “global war party” is trying to “drag Georgia into war” and “open a second front” against Russia (despite statements from Western diplomats that such messages seem to be straight out of “KGB playbook”). Notably, the US recently sanctioned Otar Partskhaladze, a former Chief Prosecutor and a close friend of the Ivanishvili family, identified as a powerful FSB operative, working to strengthen the Russian influence in Georgia. In response, the GD government publicly demanded proof from the US, while the National Bank promptly amended banking regulations to protect Partskhaladze, causing three deputy chairpersons of the National Bank to resign. Organized violent mobs continue to roam the country with impunity, attacking vulnerable and minority groups, while an orchestrated anti-Western disinformation campaign creates an ominous background to these alarming trends.
Despite such state of affairs, future prospects may still be bright. My optimism is rooted in the Georgians’ unprecedented resolve to defend their freedom, demonstrate natural adherence to democratic values and stay the course till Georgia’s full integration in the EU. Manifestly clear is the will of young Georgians, born and raised after the Rose Revolution.
On November 9 the European Commission acknowledged this historic quest and recommended that the European Council extend Europe’s fraternal hand to the people of Georgia. Georgians have waited for centuries for this door to open. Twenty years ago, on November 23, we took a huge step forward to transform our country and reclaim our future. Now we will need to navigate wisely the rough seas ahead to reunite Georgia with its long-lost European family of nations based on shared values and common vision for the future.
Zaza Bibilashvili
Chairman
The Chavchavadze Center for European Studies and Civic Education
