Reihan Demitry
South Caucasus correspondent
Reuters
Bidzina Ivanishvili is loved by some Georgians and hated by others
Most of the villagers in Kolvira in northwestern Georgia worship Vidina Ivanishviri, a proud son who is widely seen as the true power of the country.
It’s a photo postcard settlement with good roads, well maintained homes, plenty of blue and yellow flags from the dominant George Andream party.
“All of the areas where we can see new homes and roads were made by our guys, and there was nothing without him.
Ivanishvili founded the Georgian Dream (GD) and the party has been in power for 12 years.
For more than four months, Georgians have taken them to streets across the country to accuse GD of rigging Ivanishvili’s election last October, and accusing the country of moving its way to the EU and trying to return to Russian influence.
GD denies it, and in Chorvila we don’t find anyone who has the bad words to say about the son of that billionaire.
Ivanishvili built his fortune in Russia in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He returned to Georgia in 2003.
All newlyweds in Chorvila will receive a cash gift of $3,000 (£2,300) from Ivanishvili, according to Ivanishvili.
Unlike most schools in rural Georgia, it has its own swimming pool and indoor basketball court.
Temuri Kapanadze and Giorgi Burjenidze strongly support Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili
“He rebuilt the hospital, built two churches, fixed all the roads, and created all the roofs of the entire area,” Temuri said.
“I personally received a refrigerator, TV and gas stove. For five years, Mr. Vidina has helped us by paying 200 people (£55) a month.”
Here they accused the opposition of coordinating EU pro-government protests and using young people as “tools.”
“We want Europe too, but we have our traditions, and that’s what the government wants,” says resident Giorgi Burgenicze. “We are a Christian country, and our tradition means that men must be men and women must be women. President Trump thinks we too.”
The view that Europe is trying to impose alien values on Georgian traditions, such as gay rights, is often repeated by state ministers and government media.
They have also denied the daily protests sparked by Georgia’s dream decision to suspend consultations with the European Union over the country’s future membership.
“Fire to Fire” has become one of the main slogans of ongoing protests to address what people say is the overwhelming influence of Vidina Ivanishvili on the politics of the country.
“Georgia is now controlled by oligarchs who have a very Russian agenda,” says 26-year-old Tamara Alberazé.
“He owns everything, all institutions, all government forces and resources. He considers this country as private property, and he controls this country as if it were his business.”
EPA
A massive amount of protests have been grabbing Tbilisi since George Andream Party halted EU membership talks
Last month, Tamara and her boyfriend were caught in an incident where she was caught on her cell phone and went viral. They were driving towards the scene of the protest, and as many masked officers surrounded the car and tried to break in, they cried out the words “Oligarchy fire.”
“It happened in seconds, but it felt like a few hours. If they happened to take us out of the car, I don’t know what happened.”
Tamara’s boyfriend could face a sentence of jail time by revoking his driver’s license for a year and sworn in the police. She was fined $3,600. This is a huge amount in Georgia, where the average monthly salary is close to $500.
Since the parliamentary elections criticised by international observers, Georgia opposition parties have boycotted the parliament, making Georgian’s dream of ruling rubber stamped on the law with proposed changes.
“We are witnessing abuse in law production,” says Tamar Oniani, director of human rights programs at the Georgian Young Bar Association.
“We first banned face masks and then deployed face recognition cameras to Tbilisi, which makes it easier to detect people appearing in the rally and order a fine.”
Last month, the fines rose 10 times in blocking roads and betraying police, and Tamar Oniani says he received 150 calls from protesters who were fined one day alone.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakitze recently denounced the protesters as “amorphous masses,” and ironically thanked them for “replenishing the national budget.”
Tamar Oniani strongly criticizes the government’s response to the protest
Tamar Oniani says “the judiciary is completely captured,” acting as one of the means to the protesters, and she says she is in custody.
“They were tortured to be part of the protest and to be future supporters of Georgia Europe.”
The government has denied these allegations.
Since the protest began last November, hundreds of civil servants have lost their jobs after signing petitions criticizing the government’s decision to suspend consultations with the EU.
“The government has decided to cleanse the public sector of employees who were not loyal to them,” says Nini Rezaba, who was among those who lost their jobs.
She is a senior position at the Georgia State Legislative Research Center, and was tasked with providing impartial reporting to members of the Congress, which was subsequently repealed.
“They don’t need that anymore. They don’t want people with their own policies and independent analytical capabilities,” she says.
Nini says similar “cleansing” is being done in the defense and justice ministries, as well as other government agencies: “It’s happening across the public sector in Georgia.”
“They are trying to create another Russian satellite in this region, and that’s a bigger geopolitical change as they see what’s going on in the world, across Georgia, across the South Caucasus, across the Black Sea.”
In Cholvira, history teacher Timry Kapanazé sees the government’s approach to Russia very differently. “There will be no friends or enemies forever. Yesterday’s enemy can be your friend today.”
For more information about the challenges of BBC World Service, please hear more about this story
