The West should worry about Georgia's broken democracy - The Spectator - news, politics, life & arts
It is the first display of political instability in the Caucasus in 2021. Georgian prime minister Giorgi Gakharia on Thursday announced his unexpected resignation.
Although his successor has yet to be confirmed, his replacement will be the country's sixth prime minister in eight years. All, including Gakharia, have been members of the same party, Georgian Dream, that has held parliamentary control since 2012.
The founder of the party, the formerly reclusive billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, was the first Georgian Dream prime minister. He only held the post for a year, claiming he had achieved his political objectives after 12 months. This was treated with a degree of skepticism that was later proved justified. Ivanishvili retained the post of party chairman and his successors have been widely seen as his personal appointments, with their seemingly inevitable resignations equating to dismissal.
