Billionaire-turned-politician, Bidzina Ivanishvili, have agreed with leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD), Irakli Alasania, on “concrete directions of cooperation” and is “confident of possibility of having strategic partnership” with the Republican Party, Ivanishvili’s press office said in a statement on October 13.

Ivanishvili met separately with Alasania and two officials from the Republican Party, Davit Berdzenishvili and Paata Zakareishvili on October 12.

On the meeting with Alasania, Ivanishvili’s press office said that the two had “a full concurrence in opinions concerning all the major issues” – a similar wording was used by OGFD party in its statement after the meeting between Ivanishvili and Alasania.

On the meeting with the Republican Party representatives, Ivanishvili’s press office said: “Similar views have been expressed about the role of pseudo opposition political forces in the Georgian reality. Because of lack of time it was not possible to discuss issues related with media outlets.”

Paata Zakareishvili of the Republican Party said after meeting with Ivanishvili on October 12 that the billionaire-turned-politician “has clear-cut political development in Georgia.”

He said that during the meeting Republican Party representatives laid out the party’s position on various issues to find out where there might be a concurrence of opinions.

“For example, in his [Ivanishvili’s October 12] letter there were [parts] showing kind of patterns of possible cooperation with [Interior Minister] Vano Merabishvili. We have categorically and clearly stated, that it would be impossible for the Republican Party to stand where there might be Merabishvili, Saakashvili or [Secretary of National Security Council Giga] Bokeria,” Zakareishvili said after the two-hour meeting with Ivanishvili.

Ivanishvili’s October 12 statement has a significant portion, which addresses personally to a powerful interior minister Vano Merabishvili. Ivanishvili calls him “a good manager with many positive traits.”