President Saakashvili said on October 28, that “one of the serious opposition” force in Georgia was trying to throw the country back into past, but the attempt would fail because of lack of popular support.

“One of the serious opposition [force] in Georgia is trying to throw us back in the past. I think no one wants to get back to the past, although there might be 10-15% of citizens who want this, but it’s a dyeing mentality and there is no chance of returning back to the past,” Saakashvili said at a meeting with a group of Ukrainian businesspeople and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Tigipko in Tbilisi.

The quote was included in a press release of the Georgian President’s administration about the meeting, but it was not clear which “serious opposition” force Saakashvili was referring to; if the allusion was made to billionaire-turned-politician Bidzina Ivanishvili, the remarks would be considered Saakashvili first public comment made on Ivanishvili’s decision to go into politics.

He also said “we are not ideal” and problems still remained, but Georgia made a progress through reforms and the process was irreversible.