Georgian PM says pseudo-liberal ideologies lead young individuals to believe they epitomise sincerity, progressiveness in country

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday addressed young people in the country with an open letter amid ongoing protests against the bill on transparency by saying pseudo-liberal ideologies lead young individuals to believe that they epitomised “sincerity and progressiveness” in the country.

“The case of 29-year-old Gigla Berbichashvili shooting 70-year-old Ilia Chavchavadze [a Georgian publicist, author and a major figure of the country's 19th century national movement] illustrates a disturbing phenomenon. Berbichashvili deeply believed that he was a progressive, sincere young man, while viewing Chavchavadze as a backward and dishonest old man. This skewed perception was indoctrinated into Berbichashvili and his like-minded peers through Bolshevik ideology’, Kobakhidze said.

“Pseudo-liberal ideologies employ similar methods, leading young individuals, directly or indirectly associated with the collective National Movement, to believe that they epitomise sincerity and progressiveness in the country”, he noted.

Kobakhidze further added that “being earnest had value only when it was backed up by knowledge and intelligence”.