EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Saakashvili: Georgia Now a “Model” Country

EURASIA INSIGHT

SAAKASHVILI: GEORGIA NOW A "MODEL" COUNTRY
2/11/05

Declaring Georgia "a proper state," President Mikheil Saakashvili delivered his annual state of the nation speech to parliament on February 10. The upbeat speech was the Georgian leader’s first detailed public statement on government policy since the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, a leading architect of the country’s reform program.

Saakashvili asserted that the 2003 Rose Revolution that brought his administration to power had begun to accomplish its goals. "Georgia was a failed state, disintegrated, demoralized and humiliated. It was a country that had lost all attributes of statehood," Saakashvili said in condemning the administration of his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze. In contrast, Saakashvili continued, Georgia in 2005 "is a model country where every program is working in a model way."

The president cited improved tax revenue collection and a new tax code, an enlarged state budget, regular payment of government salaries and pensions, and a crackdown on corruption as among his administration’s successes in 2004. Increased tax flow and the timely payment of state salaries and pensions – "the one area in which we can claim success" -- prompted the president to nominate Finance Minister Zurab Noghaideli for prime minister, he said. "When a person works so well, he should be promoted," commented Saakashvili.

The president officially presented Noghaideli as his candidate for prime minister on February 11. A special session of parliament is expected to convene on either February 17 or February 18 to vote on Noghaideli and other proposed cabinet changes, according to Speaker Nino Burjanadze. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The February 1 explosion in Gori and the February 3 death of Zhvania have shown "that we can deal with any unexpected changes, tragedies and terrorist acts and remain strong, so that we still stand firm on our own two feet," Saakashvili said. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "We are a country that has to reclaim the most attractive part of its territory and which faces the strongest and most aggressive - perhaps not the strongest but certainly the most aggressive - forces in the world."

Those "forces" were not named, but political observers believe Saakashvili was referring to Russia, which has had a prickly relationship with Georgia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In contrast to Russia, Saakashvili characterized Georgia’s relations with neighbors Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey as "idyllic."

Saakashvili stated that he is ready to pay an official visit to Moscow to "once again extend the hand of friendship to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, which . . . has been left hanging in the air," but added that Russia must be prepared to compromise on issues that divide the two states.

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze announced on February 10 that talks in Tbilisi on a framework agreement with Russia have not been successful, with Russian insistence that Georgia promise to ban foreign military bases from its territory proving a key stumbling block. Separate talks are continuing in Tbilisi about the removal of two Russian military bases from outside the Georgian towns of Akhalkalaki and Batumi. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

On the domestic front, electoral changes could soon be in the offing. Georgia’s next parliament, due for election in 2008, could be a smaller, two-chamber body with 150 members. Deputies would still be elected according to a combination of single-mandate constituencies and party lists, but "first past the post" seats would be decreased from 75 to 50. Failing to make this change, the president said, would "be humiliating" for voters who voted for the legislative overhaul in a 2003 referendum.

At the same time, Georgia’s cities could also see their mayors elected, rather than appointed by the president. Candidate cities for such a changeover were not named, but the president stated that he expects the reform to happen within the year. No timeline was set for Parliament’s makeover.

Saakashvili also announced his intention to overhaul the country’s corruption-ridden, poorly financed education system, but provided no details. The president emphasized that the judicial system, another area where change has come slowly, should acquire "independent courts," but cautioned that "a dry place cannot exist in the middle of a swamp."

Saakashvili placed heavy emphasis on the need for political unity. He named the country’s European orientation, its willingness to cooperate with international organizations and its refusal to allow foreign bases on Georgian soil or tolerate foreign interference in its internal affairs as among the tenets that all political parties should accept. "No political party or person should overstep this mark," the president said, adding that those parties that fail to support these principles should "automatically be declared outside the law."

David Gamkrelidze, leader of the opposition New Rights-Industrialists coalition, termed the president’s remarks "a well-performed show." Gamkrelidze charged that Saakashvili had overlooked such problems as price increases, unemployment, human rights violations, illegal arrests and the August 2004 "military campaign fiasco" in South Ossetia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The comments by Gamkrelidze, who also called on parliament to create an independent commission to investigate Zhvania’s death, drew a swift response from the president. "The only purpose of this statement was to make people remember that it was Gamkrelidze who made the most noise today," Saakashvili said.

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