President’s former adviser puts shows his cards
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, June 19
The Former Foreign Policy Advisor to the President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Vano Matchavariani, has stated that there is no “favorable” relation between the President and the Prime Minister. He stressed that the stress in relations is caused by the founder of the Georgian Dream coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili. Matchavariani also stated that there are 4-5 “traitor ministers” in the cabinet he would replace if he were prime minister.
Several days ago Matchavariani resigned and left the President’s administration. He explained that President Margvelashvili appealed to him to take the step. It should be noted that one of the reasons why Ivanishvili criticized Margvelashvili when he took office was because of Matchavariani. The former advisor is a brother of the United National Movement face Mikheil Matchavariani.
In his latest interview released on June 18, Matchavariani stated that the Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili does not see Margvelashvili as a rival. He expressed his suspicion that the current unpleasant situation between the two high-ranking officials is being caused by the “Ivanishvili factor”, as the former Prime Minister no longer likes the current President.
“The Parliament chair tried to settle the relations. However, he failed,” Matchavariani said.
Matchavariani stressed that the situation in the cabinet is not acceptable as well. According to him at least 4-5 ministers should be replaced, as the current government is not effective. He emphasized that despite complicated relations, the President does not intend to look for allies outside the coalition and create problems in this regard.
The government members assessed Matchavariani’s statements as gossip.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze refrained from making any detailed comment, saying that unlike Matchavariani she was not going to spread rumors.
According to the Minister of Economy Giorgi Kvirikashvili, there is a normal working relationship between the government and the President and he cannot see any problem in this respect.
He stressed that he could not detect any traitor ministers as well.
The opposition United National Movement claims that there is a certain, vivid confrontation between the President and the government and the poor relations between the two leaders are caused by the former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili. The UNM claims that Ivanishvili is still ruling the country.
