WHO'S RUNNING GEORGIA: IT'S THE EKA'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TBILISI 002084

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DAS BRYZA, EUR/CARC, DRL, AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR PHUM GG
SUBJECT: WHO'S RUNNING GEORGIA: IT'S THE EKA'S

REF: A. TBILISI 2050

B. TBILISI 1604

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES MARK X. PERRY. REASONS:
1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: Amid the crowd of young, talented,
Western-educated officials in Georgia, one feature often
stands out: many of those in key power positions are
women. In addition to the prominent role held by the Speaker
of Parliament,Nino Burjanadze, one of the founders of the Rose
Revolution in 2003 and a moderating force in Parliament
(reftel A),Georgia boasts a large number ofwomen in
pivotal positions across the Government, including in the power
ministries. We offer the following analysis of who these
women are and the role they play. End summary.


Eka Zguladze: A Force in a Power Ministry
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2. (C) Eka Zguladze, twenty-nine years old, became Deputy
Minister of Interior (MOIA) in May 2006, replacing Eka
Tkeshelashvili who moved to become the Chief of the Tbilisi
Court of Appeals. The joke between them is that this
position at the MOIA is reserved for people named "Eka."
Zguladze is a tireless bureaucrat, arriving in the mornings
before her very active boss, MOIA Merabishvili, and often
finishing work in the wee hours of the following day.
She is sharp, and sometimes slightly sharp-edged,
knowledgeable and a fierce debater. (Note: This would not
be so notable ifshe were male and in fact, would be the
norm in Georgian politics. End note.) Eka rarely, if ever,
concedes a point. At times, this quality makes her seem
rigid in her positions but her fluent English and her strong
debating skills make her the Ministry's choice spokesperson
on a range of issues. It was she who was sent to the
Geneva- style meeting in Bonn on Abkhazia (reftel B) to defend
Georgia's position in the Upper Kodori Valley. She also
travels regularly to Brussels to participate in meetings on
Georgia's desire to join NATO. Zguladze speaks fluent
English and is married.

Eka Tkeshelashvili: The Brain Behind Judicial Reform
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3. (C) Eka Tkeshelashvili, thirty years old, is the Chief
of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals. She was a Muskie Fellow to
the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she received
an L.L.M. in International Human Rights Law. She is smart,
capable, and dynamic. Prior to her position at the
Ministry of Interior, she was a Deputy Minister of Justice and
before that she held a number of positions outside government in
the rule of law sector, focusing on human rights issues.
While Chair of the Supreme Court Kublashvili is viewed as
somewhat of a lightweight, she is the brains behind
judicial reform. Like Zguladze, Tkeshelashvili is perhaps
too right all the time for some. She is, however, a better
diplomat in the sense that she frames her disagreements in
polite, legal terms. Tkeshelashvili will readily admit the
gaps in judicial reform but has a plan for how to address them
and is not afraid to disagree when internationals have
ideas that she believes will not work in Georgia. If there was
ever a judge who could not be swayed by outside forces, it
is Tkeshelashvili. She speaks fluent English and is
married and expecting her first child in September. She is
planning to take only one month off after the birth.


Eka Gigauri: A Can Do Achiever in the Border Police
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Eka Gigauri, in her late 20s, is the Deputy Chair
for Resource Management for the Georgian Border Police. She
first came to the Border Police in mid-2004, after a period in
the private sector, and within six months was promoted to her
current position, replacing a Brigadier General. In her
position, Eka has ushered in legislation converting the
Border Police from a military to a law enforcement force.
She also led the arduous process of replacing the conscript
force with contract personnel, coordinating the testing,
interviews and training for new hires. She is known to work
well and productively with her boss, Badri Bitsadze (also
Speaker Burjanadze's husband) despite his reputation of leading
with a management style that harks back to Soviet times by being
personality rather than organizationally centered. Eka is
not, contrary to rumor, the god daughter of Speaker
Burjanadze. Eka is unmarried and lives with her parents.
Her father held a high level position in the Shevardnadze
government in the late 1990s.


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Eka Sharashidze: The Operator in the President's Office
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5. (C) Eka Sharashidze, a dual Georgian-American national,
is the Chief of Staff to President Saakashvili since this
year. She previously worked in the Office of the Prime Minister
as an advisor on economic issues and left to work in the
Mayor's office after a falling out with the Prime Minister.
The President picked her up on his staff and she quickly moved
to become Chief of Staff with the departure of Giorgi
Arveladze to the Ministry of Economic Development.
Educated in the U.S., Eka speaks fluent English.

Anna Zhvania: The Respected NGO Figure
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6. (C) Anna Zhvania, in her mid-thirties, is the head of
the Georgian Counter-Intelligence Service. She came to the
position last year trying to fill the large shoes of Batu
Kutelia, who was moved to become first a Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs and then a Deputy Minister of Defense. It
has not been an easy transition. Zhvania moved from being the
President's Advisor on Civil Integration -- after a
distinguished stint in the NGOsector -- to one of the most
machosectors of Georgian society. She is smart, thoughtful
and soft-spoken. We have heard she has had trouble with,
among other people, her Deputy, who refuses to report to
her in any meaningful way. Although Zhvania is someone to
watch in futureas she has widespread respect in Georgia for
her integrity and principles, she has suffered some recent
serious health problems from which she is undergoing medical
treatment in Israel. She is married and expecting her
first child this fall. She speaks fluent English.

Nona Tsotsoria: The Velvet Glove of the Prosecutor's Office
-------------- --------------


7. (C) Nona Tsotsoria, Deputy Prosecutor General, is the
behind-the-scenes right hand to a behind-the-scenes
Prosecutor General. She is helpful and responsive and has
a lot of credibility among Georgian and internationals for
her measured and results-oriented approach. In her
mid-thirties, Tsotsoria is slightly older than Zguladze
and Tkeshelashvili and of a different generation of
Georgian women. Being slightly more experienced in dealing
with internationals, she is considered by some to be a more
favorable interlocutor. She is also more "feminine" in the
traditional sense in that she is not overtly outspoken and
opinionated. She recently cut short a graduate program in
the U.S. at the University of Pennsylvania in order to
return to Georgia to take up a position in the near future as
a judge on the European Court of Human Rights. Tsotsoria
is unmarried.

Lali Papiashvili: A Quiet but Effective Operator in Parliament
-------------- --------------


8. (C) Lali Papiashvili is a former Chief of Staff to
Speaker Burjanadze and currently a party list National Movement
MP. At thirty-five, she is also of a slightly older generation
of Georgian women in politics and her dress and demeanor
reflect her generation. Like the Speaker, she appears to take
care with her appearance (and her color coordination and pitch
perfect make-up and nails remind many of Burjanadze.) She is
composed, polite and articulate and is carefulnot to cause
offense. As a result, she is respected for her well-considered
and thoughtful views which she articulates with quiet strength
of purpose (as well as with the knowledge that she remains an
insider to Burjanadze.) Papiashvili was the operator in
Parliament whohelped to push through a number of reforms in
support of Georgia's anti-trafficking efforts this year,
resulting in its movement to Tier 1 on the Trafficking in
Persons report for the first time. Papiashvili speaks
fluent English and is married with one child.

Irina Kurdadze: The Speaker's Right Hand
--------------


9. (C) Irina Kurdadze is a the current Chief of Staff to
Speaker Burjanadzeand a party list National Movement MP.
She is perhaps the most trusted confidante on the Speaker's
staff and also the most effective. Like Papiashvili, she
is careful to think through issues before articulating a
position.She is discreet and does not have a large role
outside of theSpeaker's office but she appears to be given
the most importanttasks by the Speaker. For example, when
the Embassy approachedthe Speaker last year on passing a
law banning ex partecommunications, the Speaker assigned
the task to Kurdadze. Attimes, one wonders how Kurdadze,
who is soft-spoken, does in the rough and tumble of
Georgia's feisty Parliamentary debate. It is clear that

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the ex parte legislation was only passed after key
Parliamentarian Giga Bokeria -- we are told at the order
of President Saakashvili -- decided to putit front and center.
Kurdadze speaks passable English and is married with two
children.

Nino Nakashidze: The Seller of Georgia Abroad
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10. (C) Nino Nakashidze, fifty-one, is the current Deputy
Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and, according to
Parliamentary sources, the likely next Chair of the
European Integration Committee to replace David Bakradze
became the State Minister for Conflict Resolution on
July 23. Nino is a party list National Movement MP.
Brash and opinionated, Nakashidze is one of the older and
long-standing female fixtures in Parliament. She travels
frequently to Europe to sell Georgia's position abroad.
Part of her power comes from her close association to
Speaker Burjanadze and key Burjanadze staff members
including Irina Kurdadze and Thea Goguadze-Apfel, with whom
she is close. She is married and has one child.

Maia Nadiradze: The Party Face
--------------


11. (C) Maia Nadiradze, forty-six, is the Head of the
Majority Faction inParliament. As such, she is the
spokesperson for the United National Movement (UNM.)
When an issue of importance is decided, Maia offers an
explanation. Her reputation is somewhat tarnished by her
history of changing parties frequently.For example, she was
in the past a supporter of former President Gamsakhurdia
and then became a leader of the traditionalists and finally
a prominent member ofthe UNM. She is married with two
children.

Helen Khoshtaria: The Fighter for Georgia in NATO
-------------- --------------


12. (C) Khoshtaria is a Deputy Minister in the Ministry
for Euro-Atlantic Integration, focusing on NATO issues.
Her intellectual capacity, hard work ethnic,and ability
to coordinate efforts on the myriad reforms linked to
NATO integration have been crucial in advancing Georgia's
NATO bid. She has excellent relations with NATO staff, the
international community, and the Georgian defense and
foreign affairsministries linked to NATO reform implementation.
Khoshtaria moved to the Euro-Atlantic Affairs Ministry from
the MOIA where she worked as a staff assistant to Minister
Baramidze -- then Minister of Internal Affairs and now
Ministerfor Euro-Atlantic Integration. Khoshtaria is also
a close friend of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs,
Eka Zguladze. Recently turned thirty, Khoshtaria is a
rising star, and is unmarried. She speaks fluent English
and is a graduate of the prestigious Moscow State
Diplomatic University.

Tina Khidasheli: The Opposition Voice
--------------


13. (C) Tina Khidasheli, in her late-thirties, is a
prominent member of the opposition Republican Party. She
is a former head of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association
(GYLA),a respected local NGO. She is a member of the "Class
of 1995" at Tbilisi State University,which included, among
others, prominent Georgians such as Georgian Permanent
Representative to the United Nations Irakli Alasania, Chief
of the Supreme Court Kublashvili, and formerDefense Minister
Irakli Okruashvili. There is no love lost between her and
Okruashvili,although she is a well known voice and face
of the opposition.Khidasheli is smart and personable.
Some believe she talkstoo much and at times overwhelms her
interlocutors with relentless and unbending (and at times,
unbalanced) positions on issues. She is married to David
Usupashvili, the Chair of the Republican Party. They have
one child.

Comment
--------------


14. (C) From our view, the twelve women listed above are
the women to watch for in the future of Georgian politics.
Remarkably, they manage the blood sport of Georgian
politics (and the nuances of Georgian society, which remains
largely patriarchal and male-dominated),in their own way, but
to a person, effectively help produce the reform results that
mark the Saakashvili administration. We also note that almost
all of them, like so many key people in the Saakashvili
government, has been trained in Western Europe or the United
States. End comment.

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PERRY