Georgian opposition leader Nika Melia: where Mikheil Saakashvili is, there is no national interest, only private selfish interests

Nika Melia, one of the leaders of the opposition Coalition for Change, on Friday slammed the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, stating that “where Saakashvili is, there is no national interest - only private selfish interests”.

“For many years now, Saakashvili’s jealousy toward me has been choking him like a noose around his neck. To soothe his heart and ease his frustration, he has once again spread a slanderous letter full of lies, claiming that Melia broke up the rally demanding his release and sent people home. Only someone who knows the truth dares to lie - that is exactly the case with Saakashvili”, he said.

“For Saakashvili, lying and shamelessness are ordinary things; without them, he no longer exists. Still, perhaps he could gather the courage to tell the truth himself about the gravest mistakes and human weaknesses he displayed throughout 2022. And when I mention mistakes and weaknesses, I actually mean the gravest moral and political steps he took”, Melia continued.

He further urged Saakashvili to speak truthfully about his serious moral and political mistakes in 2022, including hidden deals with the authorities and cooperation with a specific unnamed individual who acted as his envoy.

“He should also speak about the man he refuses to name - what issues he cooperated with him on throughout 2022, and why that man was his envoy to the authorities during that period, including while he was in Vivamedi. Through this man, what deal was made with the government, and how Saakashvili himself was ultimately deceived at the end of 2022. The public will eventually learn these very serious details, along with concrete facts, and it would be better if he himself named that man and his partners. Even after returning to Georgia, Saakashvili remained in active contact with that man for many months. He was Saakashvili’s communicator with the authorities”, Melia noted.

The opposition leader accused Saakashvili of habitual lying and shamelessness, saying these have become his defining traits.

“Saakashvili’s endless mudslinging and his occasional claims of betrayal against him serve only one purpose: to cover up the specific story of his entering into a deal with the authorities in exchange for being allowed to leave the country - a story that clearly troubles him greatly today. He has a deep fear and complex about this episode. Fear forces a person to lie. That is why he behaves so immorally and irrationally that even the devil could lose his footing”, he said.

Melia stressed that, unlike Saakashvili, he values his word and does not change positions frequently.

“Unlike Saakashvili, I know the value of my word and I do not change my position and opinions seven times a week. As I said in my previous letter, if he continued spewing poison, it would not go unanswered. For five years, I did not speak publicly about this issue. He was in Vivamedi, while I was already free, and I never gave myself the moral right to do so. Yet if he were in my place, he would have spoken out a hundred times”, he stressed.

He explained that he had stayed silent for five years while Saakashvili was imprisoned, but could no longer remain quiet in the face of repeated slander.

“However, when one prisoner throws mud at another once a month with the precision of a prearranged schedule, revealing the poverty of his soul, my silence is no longer appropriate. I can no longer assist in his attempts to wrap his complexes in false accusations, which every time only pours water onto the regime’s mill. I know that he is obsessively in love with himself. It is also clear that he is constantly tormented by suspicion and consumed solely with concern for his own ego. But it is worth noting that when someone’s dignity and honour are violated, and the slanderer tries to turn such behaviour into a habitual practice, such an obsession inevitably ends badly”, Melia noted.

“So, in this letter I reveal a position that I had long kept secret, which explains the outbursts of his bitterness. What can I say - once again he pulled the rope in the wrong place. I mentioned the years 2021-2022. As for his return to Georgia before the local elections: he was driven by unbearable jealousy. In addition, ‘that man’ and others were telling Saakashvili that if he did not return to Georgia, Melia would take the party away from him. But he was already consumed by that phobia”, he continued.

The opposition leader also spoke about internal political dynamics within the former United National Movement, claiming Saakashvili feared losing influence inside the party after opposition unity strengthened during the 2021 local elections.

“This was further intensified by the unprecedented opposition unity at the time, which greatly amplified his jealousy. He also saw that the party had acquired a major donor - something I never hid from the public, and naturally he found out as well. His contribution to that remarkable opposition unity and to financing the 2021 election campaign was zero. Against this background, his jealousy reached its peak, and as a result he performed a political somersault, bringing ruin upon himself and turning a unique and highly promising political process into ashes. After that, as I already mentioned, he took hidden steps whose details the public will inevitably learn”, Melia stressed.

“Another thing, in May-June 2021, a closed sociological survey was conducted. This was around the time when Mamuka Khazaradze and I were searching for a joint opposition candidate for Tbilisi mayor. I had already been released from prison. We tried hard, but time was very short and we could not reach agreements with several interesting candidates. Therefore, tactically, the opposition united completely in the run-off elections, and Mamuka’s contribution here was very important. My relationship and political moves with Mamuka alarmed Saakashvili even more”, he continued.

Melia also referred to internal polling that allegedly showed many party supporters no longer viewed Saakashvili as the central figure of the opposition movement.

“Returning to the survey: it showed that the then-United National Movement had many new voters for whom Saakashvili was not the decisive factor. Across the country, his factor mattered to only 52% of the party’s voters. This reality, on the basis of jealousy, destabilised him even further. Who knows how many times I argued with myself about whether I should have told you all this much earlier, even in small doses. Or whether it was right not to answer baseless accusations. Either way, until now I restrained myself. There will be much more to discuss and say”, he noted.

He stressed that opposition to the ruling Georgian Dream party should not justify “falsehood, hypocrisy, or betrayal”.

“I deeply believe in the country’s success and in the defeat of a government that has turned itself into an instrument of oppression against its own people - both active oppression, such as arrests, fines, and violence, and passive oppression, such as impoverishment. I believe that light will return to the saddened and thoughtful eyes of the people, and that all the defeats experienced so far will transform into one great and powerful motivation”, he said.

“However, I owe it to these people to say that replacing the Georgian Dream can never mean falsehood, hypocrisy, treachery, or trying to present betrayal as virtue. I would have to abandon common sense not to admit that in this life we learn everything through experience. Therefore, no one should ask me to stand united with a man whom I know from experience to stab people in the back - no matter how much I may respect certain individuals on one platform or another, today or tomorrow. Where Saakashvili is, there is no national interest - only private selfish interest. Being Ivanishvili’s enemy does not mean I must be Saakashvili’s partner. The future will show the rest. For now, stay strong, everyone”, Melia concluded.