Miss Salome Can Restore Political Balance with a Flick of a Wrist - Saakashvili

"I want to praise Salome Zourabichvili for making spot-on accents in the recent interview with one of the newspapers. She made very accurate remarks on the Russian oligarchy. At the same time, Le Monde, in its editorial, urged Salome Zourabichvili to exercise her right to pardon. Practically every head of state she met in recent months urged her to do so.

Unlike Zelensky, Macron, other leaders who call for this, I don't want to ask Mrs. Salome for anything. She says I am feeling better physically. I am better spiritually, I am stronger, as I finally believe that our people have power and this power fills me with strength. I want to unite these forces to achieve our victory, therefore, of course, I am mentally stronger. The doctors unfortunately cannot confirm that I am better physically. Salome Zourabichvili says that I have no desire to travel abroad. The thing is, it is not up to my desire. My rehabilitation requires a certain period of stay outside of Georgia. Of course, Ms. Salome can return their father to my children with one signature and, most importantly, restore the political balance in Georgia. Salome Zourabichvili says that Mikheil Saakashvili runs his election campaign from there. Mrs. Salome and I both studied at Columbia University. I don't think anyone at Columbia University would teach her that one form of campaigning is campaigning from the cage. When she says there are two other high-profile cases to deal with, Mrs. Salome, you have a way of removing the responsibility for it. That should be the responsibility of the Russian oligarch and his patrons in Russia. Why do you take responsibility for this, especially since you do not lack courage and can stand your ground when you want to. You have a lot of international support for this," said Mikheil Saakashvili.

According to him, the government is grooming the acting Minister of Culture Tea Tsulukiani for the presidency, and the acting Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze for the Prime Ministership: "They need Tsulukiani to never pardon anyone from prison, including me. Of course, they will also threaten you with imprisonment whenever they need to. The Russians have Kaladze in their pocket, especially with the Gazprom contract and all the corruption that swept Tbilisi City Hall, the Ministry of Energy before it, and Georgia as a whole."

At the session, Saakashvili also spoke about the possibility that he might be nominated as a candidate for the position of prime minister from the National Movement.

“It is still too early, my friends. That depends on many circumstances. We have to look at the situation for a few months, of course, to find the optimal candidate, acceptable to as many people as possible, because we are going for the win, not for an honorable second place. Most importantly, the electoral lists should not be made by a deal, but from the bottom up - all party members should vote for the people on the list," said the third president in a remote call.

A few days ago, the journalist of the French publication Le Monde asked Salome Zourabichvili whether she would pardon Mikheil Saakashvili, to which the European Parliament called her: "I assure you, he says he is better. He opened his office for the elections. He is in a medical clinic. There are two new trials against him. Instead of wanting to go abroad, he emphasizes that he intends to join the election campaign. I have nothing else to say on this."

Mikheil Saakashvili has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for pardoning those convicted in the case of beating MP Valeri Gelashvili and murdering Sandro Girgvliani. He was arrested on October 1, 2021, on the eve of local self-government elections in Tbilisi. Due to the deterioration of his health, Saakashvili has been placed in the Vivamed clinic, a contractor of the special penitentiary service, since May 12, 2022. The third president is also accused of border trespassing, raiding the Imedi television company and the November 7 protest rally, illegally appropriating Patarkatsishvili's property and embezzling 9,024,367 GEL belonging to the special state protection service. The third president pleads not guilty and says that he is politically persecuted and a prisoner of Putin.