Georgian President Moves on Reform Before Biden's Visit

[jakeXT]

Source: Washington Post

By Philip P. Pan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 20, 2009; 4:52 PM


TBILISI, Georgia, July 20 -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed new democratic reforms Monday ahead of a visit by Vice President Biden, promising to hold direct mayoral elections for the first time next year and help an opposition cable channel beam its signal nationally.

The measures, which also included new limits on the president's powers and steps to strengthen the courts, appeared intended to help repair Saakashvili's tattered reputation as Biden arrives this week for talks on subjects including U.S. concerns about democratic backsliding in Georgia.

Embraced by the Bush administration as a pro-Western reformer, Saakashvili has come under increased scrutiny at home and abroad since his nation's defeat in a war with Russia last year. Since April, the opposition has staged protests denouncing him as a dictator who betrayed the ideals of the 2003 Rose Revolution that put him in power and who lost a fifth of Georgia's territory in a reckless war

But speaking to parliament with a few hundred protesters camped outside in makeshift tents representing jail cells, Saakashvili pledged a "renewed commitment to strengthen our democratic institutions" and urged his critics to leave the streets and join him in pursuing "a continual opening of our political system."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072002241.html

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Georgia Says Saakashvili’s NATO Remarks in WSJ Distorted
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 20 Jul.'09 / 23:33


Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister, Giga Bokeria, said President Saakashvili’s remarks about NATO and Russia were reported by The Wall Street Journal in a way, which totally distorted the substance of what had been said by the President.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 20, that in an interview Saakashvili called the hopes of Georgia joining NATO “almost dead.” Then the President’s quote followed: "It's tragic," he said. "It means the Russians fought for the right reasons."

“What the President told the journalist was: ‘If Russia manages to kill Georgia’s way to NATO that would be tragic. It means the Russians fought for the right reasons’,” Giga Bokeria said.

...

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=21261

[bemildred]

1. LOL. You can't get much more "transparent" than that. nt

[Submariner]

2. Well, "We're All Georgians Now"....Johnny boy McCain said it

so it must be true.