Saakashvili pledged to end the country's chronic unemployment woes by investing in tourism and opening new markets for Georgia's agricultural products. Unemployment stood at 13 percent in 2005, according to the department of statistics. However other sources - including international organizations working in Georgia - put the figure closer to 50 percent. While Saakashvili repeatedly stressed it was not the government's responsibility to create employment, he supported increasing employment possibilities through privatization of industries, foreign investment, tourism and new agriculture export markets.



The government has launched two programs since 2004 to help ease the unemployment crisis: an internship program sponsored by the government and a summer job program for students. In addition, it is opening tourism training facilities throughout the country to train managers, cooks, hotel staff, and others for the country's tourism sector. In addition, the government has honed in on the need for technical training and better education to help train the workers of the future. In 2005 a massive education reform effort was launched in both lower and higher education. However, unemployment and underemployment continue to be citizens' biggest concern, outranking territorial conflicts in opinion polls. In November 2007, the government opened a new temporary employment program and new Prime Minster Lado Gurgenidze pledged several million lari from the budget to help finance new efforts to eradicate unemployment.



At the introduction of his nominee, Kote Kublashvili, for Supreme Court Chairman to parliament, President Saakashvili vowed to create the "rule of law - not man - in Georgia," and pledged that the Georgian government would not interfere with the courts. The judiciary system has been a sore point among reformers since the administration of ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze. Plagued by a history of ex parte communication, bribes and general corruption, the courts lack public trust and have repeatedly not met international standards.



Two and a half years later, court reform still tops the list of concerns for most major interest groups in Georgia, from civil society to business leaders. While the government has been active in some areas (minimalizing the president's role in punishing judges, creating a "high school" for judges and introducing legislation to end ex parte communication with the judges, observers maintain there are still major problems including pressure on judges, huge case backloads, and inexperienced judges on the bench.




Early success in Achara made the Saakashvili government confident a solution to the conflict in South Ossetia would be equally easy to achieve. In a speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, President Saakashvili pledged "constitutional guarantees" for South Ossetia's autonomy, including the right to elected local governments, executive branch and a parliament. Defense and foreign policy, law enforcement and human rights protection would fall under Tbilisi's purview. South Ossetians would be guaranteed a certain number of representatives in the Georgian central government, parliament and judiciary system. An international peacekeeping force would oversee a three-year transition period.



South Ossetia's separatist leaders made no move to embrace Saakashvili's plan. Instead, using Georgian-controlled territories within the conflict zone as his base, Saakashvili has attempted to circumvent the pro-Russian de facto leadership in South Ossetia, and deal directly with the population. In this, he is aided by Dmitri Sanakoyev, a former separatist fighter and government official, who has been named the administrative head of Georgian-controlled South Ossetia. Georgian businesses have been encouraged to invest in the territory overseen by Sanakoyev. In 2006, the Georgian parliament passed a bill for restitution of property lost during the conflict.

Yet while the government maintains there has been some success in defusing tensions, violence in South Ossetia has escalated over the past year. Separatist leaders depict Sanakoyev as a traitor and Tbilisi henchman; little avenue exists in the breakaway territory for contrary opinions. Nor has progress been made in advancing the property restitution program.




Following his National Movement Party's sweep of parliamentary elections, President Saakashvili calls on Aslan Abashidze, the separatist-minded strongman leader of the western autonomous region of Achara to disarm paramilitary groups and to recognize the authority of the central government in Tbilisi. "They have two options: to surrender their arms, or I will disarm them," Saakashvili was reported as saying. "We will not tolerate a feudal regime in Georgia anymore."



After days of demonstrations in the Acharan capital Batumi, Abashidze resigned as the region's leader on May 5, 2004, and went into exile in Moscow. An agreement signed two months later preserved the region's status as an Autonomous Republic, though some observers have criticized the document for insufficient decentralization of decision-making. Meanwhile, Batumi, a popular vacation destination, has benefited from a beautification campaign, and become a favored city for presidential promotion and business investment. Kazakhstani investors have purchased 30 hotels in the region, primarily in Batumi; a government plan also exists to make the port city a free trade zone. Several food processing and juice production plants have also opened in the region.




In a speech to supporters at John Hopkins University, newly elected President Mikheil Saakashvili pledged to end the corruption that flourished under former President Eduard Shevardnadze. During Shevardnadze's 15 year rule, corruption in Georgia reached such heights that it effected every aspect of life, from traffic police to university diplomas.



Immediately after taking office, Saakashvili began an all-out fight against corruption, arresting some of the biggest names from the Shevardnadze period and forcing them to pay for their freedom in a series of controversial "donations" to the government. The government did not stop with Shevardnadze's business associates; the anti-corruption drive included universities where students routinely purchased diplomas and court judges, and the complete overhaul of the country's police force.

The anti-corruption drive is widely considered one of Saakashvili's most successful contributions, but sticky points linger on. Televised arrests, some observers have argued, promoted a notion of "justice by television" rather than via the courts. Critics also charge that the practice of accepting money in lieu of jail time has led to an overly aggressive financial police, constantly on the hunt for new targets. The government has acknowledged the need for strengthening respect for the judicial system, but maintains that the financial police's actions are a necessary part of its no-tolerance policy on corruption.

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