Georgia’s flamboyant ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili said Friday he had returned from exile despite the threat of arrest, calling on his supporters to take to the streets against the government.
Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer who left the Caucasus country after his second term as president ended in 2013, said in video messages that he was in the western city of Batumi and had returned to Georgia ahead of local elections on Saturday.
Authorities said there was no record of Saakashvili crossing the border and the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party insisted he was not really in the country.
The 53-year-old’s return would almost certainly spark upheaval in Georgia, a small former Soviet republic in the Caucasus that has been plagued for years by political instability.
In a video posted on his Facebook page on Friday morning, Saakashvili said he was in Batumi on the Black Sea and showed a port city at night in the background.
“I risked my life and freedom to be back,” Saakashvili said in the video, without specifying when it was filmed.
“I call on everyone to go to the elections and vote for the United National Movement,” he said, referring to Georgia’s main opposition party which he founded.
– ‘Usurper government’ –
The municipal elections are a key test for the ruling Georgian Dream party, and are being watched both inside and outside Georgia for signs of the country backsliding on democracy.
Saakashvili — who swept to power in 2004 following a peaceful uprising and still commands a fiercely loyal following — called on his supporters to gather on the main thoroughfare in the capital Tbilisi on Sunday.
“On October 3, early in the morning, let’s move from all of Georgia towards Tbilisi to protect the vote results,” he said.
“If the usurper government manages to detain me prior to this, it must only strengthen us.”
Saakashvili was convicted in absentia on abuse of office charges in 2018 and sentenced to six years in prison. He denies any wrongdoing and says the case is politically motivated.
The interior ministry told local media on Friday that there was no record of him crossing the border, suggesting he either was not in the country or had entered illegally.
Georgian Dream’s party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists it was all a ruse.
“Saakashvili is not in Georgia — unfortunately, because that means his arrest will have to be delayed for a bit.”
Saakashvili has been living in Ukraine where he heads a government agency steering reforms. He announced his planned return to Georgia earlier this week, saying he would be flying to Tbilisi on Saturday evening and posting a copy of his ticket.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at the time that “if Saakashvili sets foot on Georgian soil, he will be immediately arrested and brought to prison.”
– Powerful billionaire –
Founded by powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream has been the ruling party since 2012.
Critics have accused the party of using criminal prosecutions to punish political opponents and journalists. Interpol turned down requests from Tbilisi to issue a red notice against Saakashvili.
Georgian Dream narrowly won parliamentary elections last year but the opposition, led by Saakashvili’s UNM, denounced the vote as rigged and refused to take up their seats.
The European Union mediated an agreement to end the crisis, under which Georgian Dream pledged to hold a snap parliamentary vote if it wins less than 43 percent in Saturday’s local elections.
The ruling party unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in July, sparking harsh criticism from the European Union and the United States.
In video earlier this week, Saakashvili insisted the EU-brokered deal remained in force, saying the upcoming elections “are a referendum on Ivanishvili’s removal from power.”
Ivanishvili — Georgia’s richest man and a former prime minister — is widely believed to be calling the shots in Georgia but insists he is no longer a political player.
With concerns mounting in the West over the ruling party’s democratic credentials, the United States has hinted at possible sanctions against Georgian Dream officials.
