Georgia: The Political Merry-Go-Round Keeps Spinning in Tbilisi

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has dismissed Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze in what appears to be the start of a post-war government shake-up.

Speaking at an evening meeting with lawmakers from the governing United National Movement for a Victorious Georgia, Saakashvili thanked Gurgenidze for his "robust" financial stewardship amid the global economic crisis and August conflict with Russia.

Georgia's ambassador to Turkey, Grigol Mgaloblishvili, will replace Gurgenidze. Saakashvili named attracting investments from Turkey to Georgia as the little-known 35-year-old diplomat's biggest credential for the job. Continuing economic growth and attracting foreign investment will be the premier's chief tasks, according to the president.

A successful investment banker who was educated partly in the United States, Gurgenidze advocated liberalization of Georgia's economy to pave the way for investment. The 37-year-old premier had been in office less than a year. Saakashvili said that his administration would continue to rely on Gurgenidze, who will serve as the head of a new finance and investment commission operating under the presidential administration's auspices.

"This is a special agency set up due to the international financial crisis and the council's goal will be to deter the consequences of financial crisis on country," Saakashvili said, with Gurgenidze at his side.

Although rumored for months, questions surround the timing of the announcement. The news broke amid a two-day summit, headlined by United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce John Sullivan, to attract American investment to Georgia.

A new cabinet will be announced "in the next few days," according to Saakashvili.

The announcement dovetailed with a potentially potent challenge from Saakashvili's onetime ally, Nino Burjanadze, who announced on October 27 that she will be setting up a political party. In a brief statement, the former parliamentary speaker asserted that Georgia's current government cannot tackle existing threats to the country, and indicated that she holds Saakashvili's government responsible for the August war with Russia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Mgaloblishvili's appointment comes just over two weeks ahead of a politically critical date for Georgia, the first anniversary of the November 7 clash between police and opposition protestors.

In his comments, Saakashvili stressed that "We have all learned big lessons" from the disturbances of November 7, and called for future unity. "[T]hat unity is needed if we want to have a democratic society," he said.