Former Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili returns to politics after a three-year break. Party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili announced this sudden decision at a meeting of the Political Council of the ruling party on March 5.

Garibashvili served as Prime Minister of Georgia from November 2013 until his resignation in December 2015. Since resigning from politics, he remained largely out of the public eye. Later, it turned out that it was Bidsina Ivanishvili who had pushed Garibashvili to resign. Garibashvili worked as managing director in several companies of Ivanishvili before both turned to politics. After his political comeback, the ex-prime minister will replace Gia Volsky as the political secretary of the ruling party.

According to media reports, Garibashvili's return could be seen as an attempt to hold together the troubling Georgian Dream party. Just recently, the party lost its constitutional majority in parliament, with several MPs lead by Eka Beselia, a co-founder of the party, leaving "Georgian Dream" following the controversial appointments of judges to the country's Supreme Court.

"Our main goal today is to unite and strengthen the party. My main task, together with party leader Ivanishvili and other leaders, would be to bring together the founders of our party, the deputies of previous legislatures, the old and new generations to achieve better "cooperation" and finally unite the party." commented the former Prime Minister on his motives for his return to active politics. He stressed the crucial role of Ivanishvili in the party and said that the victory of the Georgian ruling party "would have been absolutely impossible and unimaginable without Ivanishvili".