Washington briefing: In Georgia, calls for early elections, another reshuffle, and efforts to mend ties with Russia

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Saturday December 13, 2008

Georgian Catholicos visits Russian-occupied town of Gori on August 15, 2008. Interpressnews.

Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili replaced more ministers and faced new potential challengers to his power amid a gloomy economic outlook, Civil.ge reported this week and last.

Permanent Representative to the United Nations Irakly Alasania resigned his job and prepared to lead a newly established alliance of two opposition parties. Former parliament speaker (2001 -2008) Nino Burjanadze and former prime minister (2005-2007) Zurab Noghaideli have also joined the opposition to Mr. Saakashvili in recent months.

According to an opinion poll published by a Georgia newspaper Ms. Burjanadze and Mr. Alasania are the most popular picks for next Georgian president, although neither had commanding support.

The Georgian opposition has been divided on antigovernment tactics. While most have called on Mr. Saakashvili to resign, some parties think elections to parliament should be held before the presidential ones. The current parliament elected last May is dominated by president's loyalists.

Mr. Saakashvili responded with new reshuffles, bringing in officials untainted by the August war to take cabinet posts and urged them to focus on shoring up the economy.

Last week, Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili put the Georgian ambassadors to the United States and Israel in charge of the defense and economics ministries, respectively. (Mr. Mgaloblishvili himself was Ambassador to Turkey until becoming prime minister last month.)

Mr. Alasania was reportedly offered a cabinet position as well, but declined.

In another development, Ghia Nodia, a political scientist and veteran member of the Western analytical circuit, left the post of education minister after an 11-month stint.

And in what may be seen as a gesture toward Russia, Grigol Vashadze, a Soviet-trained diplomat and Russian citizen, became foreign minister.

Reaching out to Russian leaders was Georgia's Catholicos Ilia II who attended the funeral of the fellow Orthodox Patriarch Alexiy II of Russia and met with President Dmitry Medvedev on December 9.

Speaking at a meeting with a Georgian community in Moscow, Ilia II said in remarks aired by Georgian television and reported by Civil.ge: Georgia and Russia "are brothers, we are friends, we are of the same faith [Orthodox Christians] and we should be closer to each other."

In early November, a Russian deputy foreign minister received a Georgian church delegation accompanied by Georgia's ambassador to Russia under former President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Following the war in Ossetia, Russian leaders have called Mr. Saakashvili a "political corpse" and refused any contacts with him.