Saakashvili Says Georgian Dream Seeks Personal Revenge, Calls His Reforms a 'Mental Revolution'
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, January 12, 2026
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, currently imprisoned, accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of targeting him personally and criticized their approach in a letter shared on his social media page.
"Ivanishvili and the Dream are a peculiar cultural phenomenon. They are dragging us to a place, a path of return to which I have blown up long ago, and the only thing left for them is personal revenge on me. The only question is, how long will the Georgian people watch this calmly?" he wrote.
Saakashvili reflected on what he described as his most important achievement: a "mental revolution" in Georgia. "The main thing I have achieved for Georgia is not a new Batumi, Sighnaghi, bridges, airports, roads, or tourism. It is not a parliamentary center in Kutaisi or new resorts, nor the introduction of electricity. The main thing is a mental revolution," he said.
He argued that his reforms helped change how Georgians view corruption and work. "Georgians have learned that corruption is bad and harms them, that 'thieves in law' are not romantic, that education and hard work are good and the only way to success. Let's be honest. These basic principles were foreign to most Georgians in 2004," Saakashvili wrote.
He recalled that during the 1990s, corruption and crime were normalized. "In the 90s, all these instincts were completely unleashed and turned into gang violence, drug addiction, and countless tragedies," he said.
Saakashvili said 2004 marked a turning point for Georgia, when the country began moving toward a functioning state. "Georgians believed that we could be equals among equals," he wrote.
He also described the challenges his government faced, including organized crime, corrupt officials, and foreign propaganda. "Thieves in law were behind November 7 and financed the election campaigns," he wrote, citing FBI and Austrian police findings. "Hundreds of thousands of corrupt police officers, officials, and lecturers rebelled against us. Added to all this was rampant Russian propaganda with its 'stolen organs' and 'eaten breasts,' and, of course, mistakes made by me and my comrades."
Saakashvili concluded by framing the attacks against him as personal. "Ivanishvili and the Dream are pursuing personal revenge against me," he said.
