Law-abiding travelers in Munich's international airport must have been really confused the other night to watch two big, screaming men exchanging insults -- and possibly whacks -- in an unknown language. The cockfight between the pair, both prominent members of two different offshoots of Georgia’s political opposition, reportedly occurred in full public view.
In one corner, we have Levan Gachechiladze, who finished a distant second in the 2008 race for Georgia's presidency. Flamboyant, emotional Gachechiladze is usually known by his nickname, "Buckwheat."
In the other corner is Badri Bitsadze, the former border guards boss, whose main political credential is being married to former Parliamentary-Speaker-turned-opposition-leader Nino Burjanadze.
Both men have vowed to unseat President Mikheil Saakashvili, but, somewhere down the line, apparently decided to deal with each other first. Earlier on, Bitsadze accused Buckwheat of seeking a back-room deal with Saakashvili. Georgian media argued that Gachechiladze used his chance in Munich's airport (reportedly on Sunday night) to respond with his fist.
While the episode provides easy grit for the government's PR mill, neither political pugilist has agreed to provide details about the incident.
Bitsadze commented only that he is not easy to take down, and that Gachechiladze knows where to find him. His wife, onetime Rose Revolutionary Nino Burjanadze, commented with a sniff that it would be more appropriate to resolve such matters in Tbilisi than in "a foreign country's airport."
Well, boys will be boys.
Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.
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