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BERITA BAHASA INDONESIA
TOK PISIN
Topic:World Politics
Bidzina Ivanishvili's fortune is estimated to be equal to about a quarter of Georgia's GDP. (AP: Shakh Aivazov)
Fact-checking the tales surrounding oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili is difficult.
He seldom gives interviews. Invitations to his sprawling "castle", as some have called it, are even rarer.
But nuggets are out there. Ten years ago, he told a television show in his native country Georgia his pet shark was "small".
A journalist in 2012 wrote they'd glimpsed the billionaire's kangaroo, which "the caretaker kicked out into the cold to show me it exists".
There's supposedly zebras, lemurs, penguins and flamingos, too, although the hearsay about Mr Ivanishvili goes much further than a menagerie.
"He paid for a reunion dinner for all his school classmates and there was a key for a new car under everyone's napkin," went one rumour, published in a UK magazine.
Bidzina Ivanishvili's mansion is easy to spot on the bluff over Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. (Reuters: Irakli Gedenidze)
But behind the eccentricity and mystique, there's something serious.
Many people argue Mr Ivanishvili's influence far exceeds that of the country's president and prime minister.
Who, exactly, those offices should be held by, is a pertinent question today.
The former Soviet state, home to 3.7 million people, is at a critical juncture.
Its steady pro-European trajectory — which is written into its constitution and once seemed inevitable — was in October derailed after a disputed election.
The party Mr Ivanishvili founded and remains "honorary chairman" of, Georgian Dream, claimed victory, although international observers have criticised the vote, alleging irregularities and intimidation.
It's sparked a constitutional crisis. Who the president and prime minister are now depends on who you talk to. Protests are regular, and growing. Hundreds of people have been arrested.
Protests in Tbilisi have been drawing large numbers. (Reuters: Irakli Gedenidze)
"The country is at an unprecedented crossroads," says Tinatin Japaridze, a geopolitical risk analyst at the Eurasia Group.
Negotiations to join the European Union have been suspended. Closer ties with Russia, with which Georgia shares a border, are expected.
After almost three months, a solution to the chaos remains unclear.
And there are claims Mr Ivanishvili, while not in an elected office, is at the centre of it all.
While Georgia has a distinct language, history and culture, Moscow has never been far away.
It gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and began moving towards the West. By 2008, relations with Russia were so bad, war erupted.
Two separatist regions — long a source of geopolitical tension — were annexed by Vladimir Putin's army.
"We thought we'd managed to escape from the Soviet Union and that mentality, but now it doesn't look like that," says Tina Khidasheli, a former Georgian defence minister who now runs a pro-Europe think tank Civic Idea.
Though the results of last year's parliamentary elections remain disputed, Ms Khidasheli believes they exposed a pro-Moscow sentiment among some voters.
"I think these people were always there, but we didn't see them," she says.
Mr Ivanishvili, who went to university in Moscow and made his fortune there, returned to his homeland determined to make a difference.
He founded Georgian Dream in February 2012 and the party won government just months later.
He became prime minister, a position he resigned from after less than two years. But he has never been far from the seat of power.
Georgian Dream was returned to government in 2016 and 2020, and has claimed victory in the disputed 2024 poll.
While the party's policies were initially pro-Europe, that's no longer the case.
Last year, Georgia's parliament passed laws — similar to those introduced in Russia in 2022 — which mean NGOs and news outlets must register as "bearing the interest of a foreign power" if more than 20 per cent of their funding comes from abroad.
LGBTQI+ people have also had their rights eroded with new legislation. Mr Ivanishvili has specifically criticised the community before, railing in an interview last year about "men's milk" and "all sorts of orgies" at Pride events.
"He has, slowly but surely, changed the entire orientation and trajectory of the country," Ms Japaridze says.
Mr Ivanishvili was contacted for comment.
Bidzina Ivanishvili makes a point to reporters outside his distinctive home in 2011. (Reuters: David Mdzinarishvili )
Mr Ivanishvili's time in public office may have been short-lived, but the billionaire still towers over the country, figuratively and literally.
He resides in a glass and steel mansion-come-business centre on the cliffs overlooking Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.
The estate would stand out in many global cities.
But in Georgia, where the average monthly household income is just $1,000, it's particularly ostentatious.
On top of the exotic animals, there are rare trees — people sometimes report spotting new, fully grown specimens arriving on boats via the Black Sea — and an extensive art collection, including a Picasso.
These days, the colourful stories extend further than the billionaire himself.
His son, Bera, has carved out a music career, and been accused of using government officials to track people who criticise his songs on social media.
Bidzina Ivanishvili's controversial tree collection was the subject of a 2021 documentary. (Supplied: Taming The Garden film)
Mr Ivanishvili returned to politics, officially, several months before last year's election to become "honorary chairman" of Georgian Dream.
Ahead of the vote, he peddled a conspiracy theory that a "global war party", which supposedly runs the EU and US, is responsible for starting conflicts around the world. He has also promised to ban opposition parties on more than one occasion.
In December, the US government sanctioned the oligarch, claiming he had eroded democracy in Georgia and enabled human rights abuses.
During her time in politics, Ms Khidasheli worked in a coalition with Mr Ivanishvili's party.
"Back then, he was very open to all opinions and when he was prime minister we had very close cooperation," she says.
"But now he's isolated himself. That's when someone becomes particularly dangerous."
Riot police arrest a protester in Tbilisi last month. (Reuters: Irakli Gedenidze)
Lasha Aleksidze is among those who has been hitting the streets.
"I was born in 89, I was born when this was part of the USSR, my generation has seen it all," he says.
"We've seen three revolutions, and, I have never seen so many people in Tbilisi go out into the streets for a month and a half and demand something.
"The police began beating people up, and the next day, the protest turnout was 10 times higher."
Not everyone in Georgia is suspicious of Mr Ivanishvili.
Born to a poor, rural family, he once remarked in an interview that "I was raised almost barefoot, I didn't have shoes to wear".
In his impoverished hometown, Chorvila, the mogul has paid for the roads to be paved and built new homes for many of the residents.
His donations to local hospitals and schools are legendary in the area.
"No one has done as much for Georgia as he has," Chorvila resident Mamia Machavariani told Agence-France Presse last year.
He does not believe the protests are "genuinely initiated by Georgians" and says the country's youth "are being deceived" about Mr Ivanishvili.
"Georgia often overlooks his kindness and focuses on the negatives," Mr Machavariani says.
Mamia Machavariani talks to reporters in his garden in Chorvila early last year. (AFP: Vano Shlamov)
Mr Aleksidze says the mood among protesters is different.
Mr Ivanishvili's fortune is estimated to be around $US7.6 billion ($12.3 billion), or roughly equivalent to a quarter of Georgia's GDP.
"If you look at this country as a pyramid, right now, we have a Russian oligarch at the top," he says.
"If he says 'we will not be in the EU', or 'we don't want LGBT people in our country', some people just follow that.
"But in my opinion, not a single person can say, 'Here is a project he did and it helped the country.'
"Some of us are not afraid."
A supporter of Georgia's opposition parties scuffles with police officers during a rally in December. (Reuters: Irakli Gedenidze)
Georgia is effectively in a political stalemate, where opposition parties are refusing to recognise a new government.
The situation was underscored in December when Georgian Dream politicians convened to elect a new president, which functions as a head of state rather than political leader.
They picked former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, although the incumbent, Salome Zourabichvili is refusing to stand down.
Ms Japaridze believes the only way out of the crisis is for new elections to be held.
"And that has to happen before the end of this year if the Georgian Dream leadership want to put an end to this current situation," she said.
"This cannot go on indefinitely. They cannot keep dealing with hundreds of thousands of people flooding the streets."
Ms Khidasheli says she knows many Australians "haven't heard of Georgia", but she's keen for the world to know what's happening in her country. And, she has hope for the future.
"What we've seen, is that there is a new generation of Georgians ready to fight," she says.
"We used to joke about how all the protesters in Tbilisi knew each other. For 30 years it was the same people.
"Now it's a different crowd. It makes me believe that the country is in good hands, no matter what the government decides."
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