Georgia: Political Intrigue Swirls around Former Governor's Arrest

The arrest of a regional governor in Georgia is fueling speculation that the country's leadership is intent on stifling a political challenge to its authority. Specifically, political observers believe the arrest is connected to reports that former Georgian defense minister Irakli Okruashvili is planning to launch an opposition political party.

A little over a week after he pledged his political support to Okruashvili, Mikheil Kareli was arrested on September 23 on charges of bribery and illegal business practices. The former governor of the Shida Kartli region, long seen as a regional stronghold for Okruashvili, was taken into custody before boarding a flight from Tbilisi to Istanbul.

During a September 23 news conference, President Mikheil Saakashvili, who had repeatedly defended Kareli's character in the past, called the arrest "better late than never." Noting that he would not comment on the case, the president obliquely referred to Kareli and other recently arrested Shida Kartli officials as "bloodsuckers" who were trying to rob the people.

"The only questions that may arise here concern the fact that there probably should have been a reaction sooner," Saakashvili said, in comments broadcast on Georgian television.

According to the prosecutor's office, the former governor is being held without bail. He is suspected of participating in a "sophisticated" scheme to skim profits from a partially state-owned agricultural enterprise in Shida Kartli. Kareli has long been a target of criticism and allegations made by media outlets and opposition members. He was dismissed from office on September 12 after protesting the arrest of several local government officials in the regional center, Gori, on charges of corruption. Kareli was replaced by the newly named head of the Gori City Council, Zviad Khmaladze, who is believed to be a solid Saakashvili ally.

While Kareli is the object of prosecutors' attention, the media focus is on his friend and ally, the onetime highly influential Okruashvili. In recent weeks, Georgian media has been full of unconfirmed reports that Okruashvili plans to set up a party in opposition to Saakashvili. The recent resignation of several parliamentarians from the governing National Movement Party has been portrayed as related to that alleged campaign. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The 34-year-old former minister has made no public statement indicating that he plans to form a political party. Nor has he yet publicly expressed any differences with Saakashvili since his surprise departure as defense minister in late 2006, and subsequent resignation as minister of economic development. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Nonetheless, analysts in Tbilisi see Kareli's arrest as carrying a definitive political message for Okruashvili. Gia Areshidze, a fellow at the Partnership for Social Initiatives, believes the arrest is the ruling National Movement Party's way of sending a warning to Okruashvili. "Of course, this is a message. This kind of struggle between Saakashvili and Okruashvili is real. It is not a kind of political theater. Of course, it is a political struggle," he said.

Television coverage of Kareli in recent days has played into this interpretation. The pro-government Rustavi-2 news station termed a meeting between Kareli and Okruashvili following the governor's dismissal "conspiratorial."

The evidence brought against Kareli is likely to play a deciding role in whether the case is seen as political or motivated by the Saakashvili administration's ongoing war on corruption.

A spokesperson for the Georgian Public Defender said that her office repeatedly asked the government over the past two years to investigate claims that Kareli intimidated and beat journalists, threatened suspected rivals and attempted to grab privately owned land. The office's findings and investigations were turned over to the prosecutor's office, but follow-up never occurred, Nino Eremashvili claimed.

Shorena Anjaparidze, an employee at the general prosecutor's department for public information, however, maintains that the prosecutor's office had "nothing" against Kareli until the arrested Gori officials started to provide information about his alleged activities.

Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, sees the arrest as carrying a double message. The government, he claims, has wanted to remove Kareli from office, but found it difficult to do so as long as the governor enjoyed Okruashvili's protection.

"He was quite a dirty guy," Rondeli said. "[The arrest] shows everyone that even the people in the upper echelons of power will be prosecuted.