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Georgian PM promises not to try to jail Saakashvili
By Margarita Antidze and Timothy Heritage
TBILISI | Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:43pm EDT
(Reuters) - Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, hoping to
ease fears of instability, says he will not try to jail President
Mikheil Saakashvili when his rival steps down after Sunday's election.
In an interview with Reuters on Friday, he reaffirmed a plan to quit
as the former Soviet republic's premier in the weeks after Sunday's
vote and revealed he would nominate a member of his government to
replace him, but gave no name.
Opinion polls suggest Georgy Margvelashvili, an Ivanishvili ally, will
win Sunday's vote, a result that should improve prospects for
stability after years of upheaval in a country crossed by pipelines
carrying Caspian oil and gas to Europe.
But two European Union ministers expressed fears this week that
Ivanishvili might take revenge on Saakashvili for blocking government
decisions for months, by pressing for him to be prosecuted.
"The Europeans and Americans ... are giving us friendly advice, which
I agree with: that it would not be in the country's interests if our
president goes to jail," Ivanishvili said in his glass and metal
residence overlooking the capital Tbilisi.
He said Saakashvili, catapulted into power by a bloodless revolution
in 2003, could face questioning by police when he leaves office and
loses immunity from prosecution.
But Ivanishvili said he would not push for an arrest, adding: "It's
bad if a country's president might go to jail."
EU CONCERNS
He did not say what Saakashvili might be accused of, although he has
previously suggested he might be asked about the death of a former
prime minister, Zurab Zhvania, who was poisoned by fumes said to have
come from a faulty heater.
His comments were clearly intended to appease two EU foreign
ministers, Sweden's Carl Bildt and Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski, who
urged him in Tbilisi last week not to take revenge on his rival though
the courts.
Ivanishili predicted Margvelashvili would win 60 percent of votes on
Sunday - enough to avoid a run-off. Saakashvili cannot seek a third
five-year term because of constitutional limits.
He said his government had run the South Caucasus country of 4.5
million well since his Georgian Dream coalition defeated Saakashvili's
party in a parliamentary election last October.
"The election will be a good confirmation of that," he said, leaning
back in his chair and looking relaxed in a casual blue sweater with an
open-necked shirt and jeans.
Ivanishvili, now 57, entered politics two years ago because he was
frustrated with Georgia's course under Saakashvili.
At the time, few people in Georgia knew what he looked like but most
knew of his fabulous business fortune, albino sons, private zoo with
penguins and zebras, and art collection including works by Picasso,
Matisse and Renoir. Forbes magazine has put his wealth at about $5.3
billion.
READY TO STEP ASIDE
Ivanishvili managed to unite the opposition. Saakashvili, meanwhile,
had lost popularity after failing to carry out all the reforms he had
promised, and had dragged Georgia into a disastrous five-day war with
Russia in 2008, from which Moscow emerged in control of two rebel
Georgian regions.
Ivanishvili said Saakashvili, 45, had no political future in Georgia.
But he also confirmed that he himself would carry out a promise he
made when becoming a politician to step aside when his job was done:
"I've done what I had to do."
He listed his achievements as changing the political landscape,
constitutional reforms and launching healthcare, agriculture and
private insurance reforms.
Critics say he has achieved little and the faltering economy has not
improved, but Ivanishvili scoffed at this.
He declined to say who would be the next prime minister - the most
powerful position in Georgia since the constitutional changes - but
said he would name his candidate on November 2.
"It will be a member of the cabinet, one of the ministers, a member of
our team," he said.
The president will propose the nominee to parliament for approval
after the inauguration, expected on November 17.
"On November 19 or 20, we'll get a new cabinet and prime minister and
I'll be free (to go) after that," Ivanishvili said.
Opponents say Ivanishvili may still try to call the shots behind the
scenes, and suggest this would be unconstitutional.
"I will not allow myself to ask questions or give orders from the
wings," he said. "If they (the government) want to, they will ring me.
That's okay at the start, but it will gradually happen less and less."
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/25/us-georgia-election-ivanishvili-idUSBRE99O11320131025
By Margarita Antidze and Timothy Heritage
TBILISI | Fri Oct 25, 2013 4:43pm EDT
(Reuters) - Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, hoping to
ease fears of instability, says he will not try to jail President
Mikheil Saakashvili when his rival steps down after Sunday's election.
In an interview with Reuters on Friday, he reaffirmed a plan to quit
as the former Soviet republic's premier in the weeks after Sunday's
vote and revealed he would nominate a member of his government to
replace him, but gave no name.
Opinion polls suggest Georgy Margvelashvili, an Ivanishvili ally, will
win Sunday's vote, a result that should improve prospects for
stability after years of upheaval in a country crossed by pipelines
carrying Caspian oil and gas to Europe.
But two European Union ministers expressed fears this week that
Ivanishvili might take revenge on Saakashvili for blocking government
decisions for months, by pressing for him to be prosecuted.
"The Europeans and Americans ... are giving us friendly advice, which
I agree with: that it would not be in the country's interests if our
president goes to jail," Ivanishvili said in his glass and metal
residence overlooking the capital Tbilisi.
He said Saakashvili, catapulted into power by a bloodless revolution
in 2003, could face questioning by police when he leaves office and
loses immunity from prosecution.
But Ivanishvili said he would not push for an arrest, adding: "It's
bad if a country's president might go to jail."
EU CONCERNS
He did not say what Saakashvili might be accused of, although he has
previously suggested he might be asked about the death of a former
prime minister, Zurab Zhvania, who was poisoned by fumes said to have
come from a faulty heater.
His comments were clearly intended to appease two EU foreign
ministers, Sweden's Carl Bildt and Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski, who
urged him in Tbilisi last week not to take revenge on his rival though
the courts.
Ivanishili predicted Margvelashvili would win 60 percent of votes on
Sunday - enough to avoid a run-off. Saakashvili cannot seek a third
five-year term because of constitutional limits.
He said his government had run the South Caucasus country of 4.5
million well since his Georgian Dream coalition defeated Saakashvili's
party in a parliamentary election last October.
"The election will be a good confirmation of that," he said, leaning
back in his chair and looking relaxed in a casual blue sweater with an
open-necked shirt and jeans.
Ivanishvili, now 57, entered politics two years ago because he was
frustrated with Georgia's course under Saakashvili.
At the time, few people in Georgia knew what he looked like but most
knew of his fabulous business fortune, albino sons, private zoo with
penguins and zebras, and art collection including works by Picasso,
Matisse and Renoir. Forbes magazine has put his wealth at about $5.3
billion.
READY TO STEP ASIDE
Ivanishvili managed to unite the opposition. Saakashvili, meanwhile,
had lost popularity after failing to carry out all the reforms he had
promised, and had dragged Georgia into a disastrous five-day war with
Russia in 2008, from which Moscow emerged in control of two rebel
Georgian regions.
Ivanishvili said Saakashvili, 45, had no political future in Georgia.
But he also confirmed that he himself would carry out a promise he
made when becoming a politician to step aside when his job was done:
"I've done what I had to do."
He listed his achievements as changing the political landscape,
constitutional reforms and launching healthcare, agriculture and
private insurance reforms.
Critics say he has achieved little and the faltering economy has not
improved, but Ivanishvili scoffed at this.
He declined to say who would be the next prime minister - the most
powerful position in Georgia since the constitutional changes - but
said he would name his candidate on November 2.
"It will be a member of the cabinet, one of the ministers, a member of
our team," he said.
The president will propose the nominee to parliament for approval
after the inauguration, expected on November 17.
"On November 19 or 20, we'll get a new cabinet and prime minister and
I'll be free (to go) after that," Ivanishvili said.
Opponents say Ivanishvili may still try to call the shots behind the
scenes, and suggest this would be unconstitutional.
"I will not allow myself to ask questions or give orders from the
wings," he said. "If they (the government) want to, they will ring me.
That's okay at the start, but it will gradually happen less and less."
(Editing by Kevin Liffey)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/25/us-georgia-election-ivanishvili-idUSBRE99O11320131025