Bidzina Ivanishvili

To paraphrase Jean-Paul Sartre, politicians, like all dreamers, sometimes seem to confuse disenchantment and truth. This time round, it's the turn of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, dreamer-in-chief of the opposition Georgian Dream movement, who refuses to accept a reported truth -- at least, in the form of an opinion poll -- which portrays him as number two on Georgians’ list of favorite politicians.

The oligarch-turned-politician says that there must be something wrong with a recent opinion poll by the National Democratic Institute, the American non-governmental organization, which apparently does not put him in first place in terms of popular support, but rather behind President Mikheil Saakashvili and his ruling United National Movement Party (UNM).

Leaked ratings of political parties, part of a broader public opinion survey, reportedly show that if Georgians were to vote for a president tomorrow, 28 percent would support a UNM candidate and 12 percent would cast their votes for Ivanishvili, Interpressnews reported on March 27. Similarly, 47 percent said they would support the UNM over the Georgian Dream in this October's parliamentary election, Civil.ge reported. NDI has not responded to the reports.
           
The Georgian Dream, a coalition of opposition political parties, retorted that “[t]he part of the survey that deals with political parties, not only fails to achieve its goals, but rather has become counterproductive in terms of creating a competitive political environment and allowing citizens to make informed political choices."  

Widespread and reportedly roughshod questioning of Georgian billionaire opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili's supporters by state audit agency employees has sparked concerns by US Ambassador John Bass and human rights group Amnesty International that Georgia, already limbering up for its October parliamentary elections, is crossing the line between enforcement of campaign finance regulations and political intimidation. 

Bass, an influential figure in staunchly pro-American Georgia, weighed in via Facebook late last week with a comment that the Chamber of Control’s recent activities do not “increase public confidence in this institution or in a competitive campaign environment.”

In a March 16 press release, Amnesty International* took a tougher stance, saying that “selective examination of only opposition of only opposition members party members and presumed supporters, the manner in which many examinations took place, the nature of many questions being asked and sheer number of those called in for questioning suggests that the operation is politically motivated and aimed at intimidating current and potential opposition party sympathizers.”   

Georgia's ruling United National Movement on March 19 agreed to revisions in campaign-finance laws, Civil.ge reported , but details are not yet available.

Earlier revisions had given the state audit agency, the Chamber of Control, broad authority to monitor campaign financing and punish non-compliant political players.

Georgia’s richest housewife has set aside the cares of hearth and home and walked onto the political stage in a big way. Make way for Ekaterine Khvedelize, the wife of billionaire-cum-opposition-politician Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The little-known Khvedelidze last week became the commander-in-chief of the Ivanishvili political army -- known as the Georgian Dream movement -- that hopes to give the boot to President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement party in this year's parliamentary elections.

Ivanishvili cannot chair his own political movement because his Georgian citizenship has been revoked by the government, which argues that his Russian and French citizenship violated Georgia's laws on citizenship. Khvedelidze’s Georgian citizenship, though similarly revoked, was reinstated late last month. And a political career was born.

“My wife is my closest friend and adviser,”  Ivanishvili, who apparently views politics as a family business, commented on January 11. His first bet was his 19-year-old son, Uta, but then, given his age, the family council decided on Khvedelidze. This way, papa, mama and the kids, too, can all have a role in the Georgian Dream. Ivanishvili’s younger son, Bera, a popular rapper, provides the necessary musical scores.

“We all start somewhere,” Khvedelidze, standing alongside her husband, told reporters. “I hope the current government will not come up with some law that will bar my husband from giving me advice.”

Georgia is at its flamboyant best these days. An eccentric billionaire wants to take the country away from its adventurous president; plans are underway to build a whole new city of 500,000 people pretty much out of the blue; a television manager catapults himself into a TV station and nearly yanks the channel off the air, while lawmakers almost get physical over a proposal to fatten the Georgian parliament by 40 seats. These dramas, big and small, provide for a show that is often bewildering, but never boring, as one foreign reporter observed. 

The battle between tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili and President Mikheil Saakashvili, though, still makes for the main storyline of the season. To catch you up on the latest, Ivanishvili the billionaire seems to have realized that being a cab-driver icon to some Georgians, and a welcome agent of political balance to others is not enough. So, he hired a Washington, DC-based lobbyist.

With the help of BGR Government Affairs, Ivanisvhvili will compete against Saakashvili for the good graces of US political and media circles. Aside from its ties with the US government past (George W. Bush and friends) and present, the Saakashvili administration has two US lobbying groups, Podesta Group and Orion Strategies, on its side.   

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire on everyone’s lips here in Georgia, made another of his oracular appearances from his futuristic Tbilisi hermitage yesterday. Just like his previous appearances, the messy, hour-and-a-half-long news conference with President Mikheil Saakashvili's latest opponent is now being poured over obsessively.

Ivanishvili did not get too much down to brass tacks about his plans, though. The rowdy news conference was perhaps more informative about the state of Georgian news media than anything else. As reporters -- reportedly, 200-strong -- literally wrestled for a microphone and for a chance to ask a question, the much-anticipated rendez-vous, televised live on Georgian Public Television, nearly turned into a hair-pulling match. 

Hacks from government-friendly television channels went out of their way to grill the tycoon on his ties to Russia; other reporters offered up coquettish adulation. One opted for a question about a penguin and sparrows, but that's a separate story.

All of this was MC'd by Ivanishvili’s overly emotional spokesperson, former Georgian Public Broadcasting Board of Trustees Chairperson Irakli Tripolski, who, gesticulating angrily, barked at inattentive journalists during Ivanishvili's comments to "Listen to him, listen to him!"   
     
Ivanishvili himself remained composed -- "Don't get upset. Everything will be fine," he told the frantic Tripolski at one point -- and stuck to the general, delivering largely diplomatic responses. In a few fresh details about his political plans, he pledged to push for Saakashvili's impeachment upon taking over parliament in the 2012 election. (Apparently, even Saakashvili's "mother would not vote for him.")

Many Georgians are still having an “It’s alive!” moment with the political awakening of Bidzina Ivanishvili, a reclusive, Forbes-list billionaire from a glowing castle who has declared himself the sworn enemy of President Mikheil Saakashvili. But the country's interior ministry now has taken all the Dracula and Lord of the Ring jokes to a whole new level by suggesting that the businessman is into black magic.

Ivanishvili lives in a bizarre hillside castle, avoids appearing in public and speaks with a strong Russian accent. In a word, he pretty much has all the attributes to qualify for the role of the prince of darkness in a vintage horror flick.

And the government, still flushed by its recent brush with Hollywood, appears to have realized it.

In a statement today, the interior ministry declared that "unusual minerals and printed materials" of an “occult character and used to predict the future” were found on Ivanshvili’s Russian aide, Valery Levin, when he flew into Tbilisi on October 22. Police took the pains to inspect -- and photograph -- the items and assured the public that the minerals do not pose a threat to "human health."

The stash came from Moscow -- the center of all evil, of course. Perhaps for this reason, the ministry did not bother to explain why Levin was questioned and searched?

Some local commentators have diagnosed the Georgian government with paranoia over Ivanishvili after it stripped the billionaire of his Georgian citizenship and impounded cash meant for his Georgia-based bank. But few expected the many accusations against the eccentric businessman to move into the realm of the supernatural.