Georgian politics: Bidzina is not the messiah | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2013/09/georgian-politics?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/bidzinaisnotthemessiah
Bidzina is not the messiah
Sep 10th 2013, 11:56 by G.E. | TBILISI
IT IS a phrase more readily associated with Monty Python’s “The Life of Brian”, a comic film with a cult-like following. On September 2nd, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian prime minister, released an open letter to explain his decision to leave his position shortly after the presidential elections on October 27th. The main reason, he says, is that he is not the messiah.
Georgia has a complicated relationship with political saviours. All three of Georgia’s previous post-independence leaders, Zviaad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnardze and Mikheil Saakashvili, the current president, fitted this mould. Each man courted wildly unrealistic expectations from the Georgian public, but yielded little by way of accountability in return. As Georgians saw reality, their dreams turned to deep disillusionment.