History has its ways and means to judge personalities and their exploits. Often, those judgments materialize after centuries have passed from the days of their glory, but in our accelerated times, the post-grandeur evaluations might arrive earlier than we expect them to. This is exactly the case with the third chief executive of Georgia whose entrance into big politics was marked with revolutionary alterations in the country. He found himself at the helm of the nation right out of the blue, having taken over the government of the country literally overnight. He was extremely popular, and the nation wanted him to be out there for all of us to make life better after the corruptive stagnation of the previous regime. And, indeed, he did his modernizing job, refurbishing the governing apparatus and reorganizing law enforcement so quickly and dexterously that he acquired the reputation of the most notable reformer of the post-soviet era. He turned himself into the real talk of Europe, if not the world, as a leader with synergetic capabilities and qualification that deserved to be emulated by others. To maintain his power and fame, the only thing he had to do in the aftermath of that outstanding personal accomplishment was to keep up the good job, remain calm and balanced, and to carry on making the impression that he was the best among peers.
To the greatest chagrin of his fanatically dedicated team and his strongly faithful supporters, the leader of the nation failed to do so. Something didn’t work in his grandiose plan to change the country. Most of the ensuing analytical conclusions would corroborate that the self-centered Ex over-abused his power, thus becoming totally immersed and lost in his ambitious and erroneously concocted invincibility, stumbling over his unforgivable blunders and, finally, being overwhelmed by a huge wave of his own people’s fury over his malice and cruelty towards his massively punished subjects.
The old splendor kept him afloat for quite a while, trotting the world and doing high-ranking jobs every now and again, but the dream of being a comeback kid never left his soul and mind. He talked profusely worldwide and made a lot of waves wherever he went, but all his efforts were stillborn and vain. He needed his roots back and his formidable influence over a new generation of Georgians.
Years passed and nothing of the sort happened, and, in politically motivated spiritual desperation, the stray but not repentant prodigal son, crossed the border of his homeland, clandestinely and unlawfully. Apprehension and imprisonment followed, but he persistently continued playing the tough and obstinate political oppositional leader, resorting to hunger strike and to writing Lenin-style politicized missives to instruct and inspire his fellow fighters.
One of the most vivid samples of his letter-writing activity from penitentiary is his epistle, submitted to POLITICO Magazine through his lawyers, starting with these words: “I am writing from the country where I once served as president. I was arrested on charges I believe to be politically motivated.” After managing to get the convict moved from the isolation ward to a well-equipped infirmary, the opposition endeavor has now turned into an effort to have him recognized as a political prisoner, conducive to his eventual liberation. Nobody on the Ex’s side would ever utter even a word about his guilt before the Georgian people, for which he is currently doing time. Trying to wipe from our collective mind every piece of his erstwhile wrongdoings, the opposition continues lionizing its ‘unfairly’ incarcerated leader, sporadically commenting on his sickness, irrationality and negative emotionality, all caused by his mistreatment in detention. The Ex is indeed irrational at times. Suffice it to remember how he talked to his convoy details, fervidly pouring all his rage and resentment on absolutely innocent men who were just doing their law-enforcing job, for which they get paid, and have nothing to do with the Ex’s political misfortune. This is just one brief episode of the man’s irrationality, saying nothing of his recent model of behavior in the courtroom, where he desperately wanted to look not like a prisoner, but very presidential. The meaninglessness of his absurdly vigorous fans and defenders, who are killing themselves to see him out and free, is just another story to deliberate on.
Op-Ed by Nugzar B. Ruhadze
