“EAST-WEST” VERSUS “NORTH-SOUTH”

In Georgia the stand-off between President Mikheil Saakashvili's "United National Movement" and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's "Georgian Dream" Party has become more intense of late. The Georgian president is accusing the prime minister of attempting to change the country's foreign-political vector, and Ivanishvili has his own package of accusations.

David Darchiashvili, one of the leaders of the "United National Movement" and member of the Georgian parliamentary committee on European integration, shared his take on recent events in and around Georgia with R+.

- The supporters of the parliamentary majority as represented by the "Georgian Dream" movement prevented President Mikheil Saakashvili from making his address to the nation in the state library. Are we talking about a real diarchy in Georgia?  

- I don't think there is diarchy in the full sense of the word at the moment. In speaking about the current situation as a diarchy we would be blurring over the specific nature of the situation. In actual fact, on the one hand there is purely constitutional and political power in the form of President Mikheil Saakashvili, and on the other we have Prime Minister Ivanishvili who, as the events of 8 February showed, is striving to broaden his powers by changing the constitution, adopting power politics, cracking down on local self-administration bodies and making threats against MPs. Small detachments are being formed from individuals released from prison who are putting pressure on the Georgian prime minister's political opponents. In other words, on the one hand there is the law, the constitution and the support of the international community, and on the other strong-arm methods are being applied in the political struggle.

- So what is the objective here - to get Saakashvili to resign?

- The "Georgian Dream" movement headed by Ivanishvili, which came to power in parliament, is using the methods of the Soviet special services and gangster culture. In other words, they say one thing but do another. The prime minister himself says he is against impeaching the resident, but at the same time he speaks derisively about the parliamentary opposition. In Tbilisi, some people are carrying out unauthorised activities with impunity demanding Saakashvili's resignation and deputies of the parliamentary majority are openly saying that the Georgian president's "dictatorial" power must be deposed. In this instance they are using a corrupt, anti-democratic tactic where deeds get separated from words.

- So people released under the amnesty have been mobilized in political infighting?

- Of course. Among those involved in the amnesty announced by a parliamentary majority against the will of the president, are criminals who have committed murder. There was one amnestied individual who was imprisoned over a woman and committed attempted murder. He, incidentally, an ex-policeman, was released as a political prisoner. So these people from the criminal world are now trying to take their revenge in the struggle against the powers of Saakashvili.

- But how come a hardened separatist with a strong criminal reputation like Vahagn Chakhalyan was amnestied? His organization - "United Javakhk" - has never concealed its objective - to annex the Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti to Armenia by any method. And he was arrested for an incident involving arms…

- Such questions as the release of Chakhalyan are being resolved at the level of the prime minister and his inner circle. The point is that the demand to release Chakhalyan and the organizers of terrorist acts and armed rebellion on Georgian territory, the people who carried out subversive activities and the Russian spies confined in Georgian prisons came from Moscow. Judging by the fact that the Kremlin's demand was carried out, there is clearly a pact between "Georgian Dream" and Russia. 

- Against the background of the concern expressed by President Saakashvili at the emergence of new threats to Georgia's territorial integrity, the local press is discussing the possibility of Javakheti being declared a free economic zone. This is precisely the scenario in the plans of the Armenian separatists from the "Javakhk", "Virk" and other movements…

- As far as I am aware, this has not been discussed in the power structures. The position of the Georgian parliamentary majority in this question remains unknown. But this scenario is being widely publicized by Chakhalyan and his supporters.

- But isn't it still possible that new territorial-economic entities will emerge in Georgia?

- Many sober-minded people in Georgian political circles are aware of how much of a threat this is to the country's territorial integrity. But it is very difficult to judge how many such people there are in the ruling "Georgian Dream" party.

- After Bidzina Ivanishvili said in Baku that he was hasty with his negative assessment of the project for the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, the new prime minister expressed his desire to set in motion the Abkhazia-Georgia-Armenia railway line which has not been operating for over 20 years. One wonders what Abkhazia's status will be in this matter?

- These statements by Ivanishvili arouse not so much bewilderment as alarm. They should not be thrown around like that. For Georgia the railway is a part of foreign policy and an important element of geopolitics. And the prime minister speaks about this as a normal economic project, the purport of which he doesn't completely understand. This is even more dangerous when it is put forward as an alternative course directed against the East-West vector. Remember, the parliamentary minority was prepared to clip the president's constitutional powers if the "Georgian Dream" agreed to enter into the constitution the wording that "integration into the European, Euro-Atlantic community is Georgia's immovable objective". But "Georgian Dream" rejected this proposal. And this is arousing a great many suspicions.

- When he was in Yerevan Prime Minister Ivanishvili said that Armenia's foreign-policy course is an example for Georgia. It is well known that Armenia is an outpost of Russia. Will Georgia now be making claims to this role?

- This is an impermissible statement for the head of the Georgian government to make. His statement about the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, the opening of the Abkhazian Railway without prior conditions, the recognition of Armenia's foreign-policy course as an example for Georgia, and, finally, his statement at a meeting with foreign investors that all the country's economic successes have been a bluff shows that Ivanishvili is making preparations for a change in Georgia's foreign-policy course.

- What processes will take place in Georgia if there is a change in the foreign-political vector from EU-NATO to CIS-CSTO?

- What will happen if Georgia returns to the CIS, rejects its strategic partnership with the European Union and cooperation with western investors? We (the "United National Party" - author's note) will have to start all over again. In this case Georgia will face a great many problems which will seriously weaken the country. The Georgian people will have to make their opinions known. But society could be too late in its response to the threats.

- What retaliatory moves will President Mikheil Saakashvili be making in the near future?

- He will have to explain to the Georgian and the international community what is in fact happening in Georgia. He will have to use the media to get across his vision of the development of events in Georgia to its regional and western partners. We have no other levers of influence. If the response of the Georgian and the international community is adequate, then Ivanishvili will not succeed in radically altering the vector of the country's development. Whether he wants to or not.