Georgia's Revolutionaries Face Growing Internal Opposition

The triumvirate at the helm of Georgia's Revolution of Roses is promising to overhaul state structures to "provide government by the people, and government for the people." However, a large segment of Georgian society, not just adherents of the old regime, harbors doubts about the new leadership's methods and goals. Indeed, domestic tension is rapidly rising in Georgia, and some security officials are now voicing concern about the possibility of "dynamic chaos" in the country.

Zurab Zhvania, Georgia's interim state minister, outlined the provisional government's views in an interview broadcast by the Rustavi-2 television channel on December 1. Provided that provisional authority received a popular mandate from upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Zhvania vowed "to carry out fundamental and comprehensive reorganization of the current system of governance."

Zhvania stressed that the provisional leadership does not "consider the revolution completed." Following the elections, the new leadership will specifically seek to streamline government agencies so that government initiatives do not stall "in a thick forest of bureaucracy." Likewise, he promised drastic changes in personnel policy that would be designed to curb corrupt practices. Georgia is among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the watchdog group Transparency International.

All future bureaucratic appointments, "without exception, will be carried out on the basis of open and public competitions," Zhvania said.

The interim government's vision for Georgia's democratic transformation appears to be encountering growing skepticism within Georgia. Leaders of Georgia's autonomous republics, especially Ajaria's Aslan Abashidze, have been the most vocal critics of provisional authorities. But such criticism is spreading.

For many in Tbilisi and beyond, main source of concern is not the ends, but the means that the interim government may use to implement their plans. Less than two weeks after opposition pressure forced the resignation of former president Eduard Shevardnadze, leaders of the interim government are coming under attack from erstwhile allies for resorting to undemocratic tactics in the name of promoting democracy.

A split has already occurred within the coalition of opposition parties that seized control of the government following Shevardnadze's departure. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. On November 27, Akaki Asatiani, the leader of the Union of Georgian Traditionalists, said the main reason the party was quitting the coalition was its decision to nominate National Movement leader Mikheil Saakashvili as the "unified" opposition candidate for the presidential election, scheduled for January 4.

At a December 1 news conference, Asatiani characterized Saakashvili as a "demagogue," adding that "he will create many problems for the country." He also expressed concern that the provisional government may try to influence the presidential and parliamentary votes. It was Shevardnadze's attempt to rig the November 2 parliamentary elections that precipitated his downfall.

Meanwhile, the Labor Party's leader, Shalva Natelashvili, described the provisional government as a "terrorist junta" following a November 29 explosion outside the party's headquarters. Natelashvili suggested that the provisional government was connected to the blast.

While Labor opposed the Shevardnadze administration, it remained aloof from the coalition led by Saakashvili, Zhvania and interim president Nino Burjanadze. Natelashvili implied that the triumvirate sought to intimidate Labor into going along with their reform agenda. "Serious acts of provocation are planned against our party and its leadership. We possess this information," Natelashvili said during a news conference broadcast by Imedi TV.

Although Shevardnadze himself has largely been reluctant to discuss Georgia's new leadership, some of the former president's lieutenants have tried to whip up antipathy towards the provisional government. In comments broadcast by state television November 27, prominent Shevardnadze ally Vakhtang Rcheulishvili warned that "dictatorship is approaching, and all of us should recognize this danger."

In addition to the explosion at Labor's headquarters, several controversies have helped fuel suspicion about the provisional government. For example, interim leaders faced criticism over some of their early political appointments. In a few cases, close friends and relatives of top leaders were installed in key government posts. Another controversy involved the Kavkasia television channel, whose broadcasts were abruptly suspended November 27 after it aired criticism leveled against the provisional government.

Provisional authorities have sought to reassure their critics. Interim Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze, for example, pledged that the provisional government would, "irrespective of citizens' political sympathies and views, ... not repress or harass them," the Itar-Tass news agency reported November 29. He also stressed that the Interior Ministry would produce "reliable electoral rolls" to ensure a fair presidential and parliamentary vote.

Against the background of mounting skepticism, rumors of potential coup conspiracies and assassinations plots are sweeping Georgia. On December 1, a State Security Ministry spokesman, Nika Laliashvili, said officials had obtained information about an attempt to destabilize the country.

"Groups united by inside the country or beyond its borders are vigorously and intensively carrying out a plan for leading Georgia into so-called dynamic chaos. Consequently, the likelihood of political terror has reached its maximum," Laliashvili told Rustavi-2. "A single political assassination, one fatal shot, may cast doubt on the prospects for the country's development."

Reports have also swirled in Tbilisi that conservative elements within the military establishment might mount a coup attempt. On November 29, Defense Minister David Tevzadze admitted that a segment of the military was disgruntled, while stressing that he was striving to prevent the armed forces from meddling in the political process. "An attempt that military units may come under, let us say, political pressure cannot be excluded," Tevzadze told Imedi TV.

When asked whether an armed counter-revolution was possible in Georgia, Tevzadze responded: "Revolution and counter-revolution belong to the political sphere and are internal matters."

In confronting the coup rumors, Saakashvili has made it plan that the provisional government, though democratic in its intentions, would be ruthless in its dealings with those seeking to destabilize the country.

"The revolution has not happened in order to allow people who have a grudge against someone else to take revenge," Saakashvili told Rustavi-2 on November 26. "This is no time for revenge. It is a time for reconciliation. ... But if anyone still wishes to talk about a military coup, we will deal with such people very harshly."