OKRUASHVILI THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 002415

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR DAS BRYZA AND EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/27/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GG
SUBJECT: OKRUASHVILI THROWS DOWN THE GAUNTLET

REF: TBILISI 1370

Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: On September 25, former Defense Minister
Irakli Okruashvili made the long-awaited announcement on the
establishment of his political party - Movement for United
Georgia. In his announcement and a subsequent television
interview, Okruashvili for the first time harshly attacked
President Saakashvili, accusing him of ordering political
assassinations, personal corruption, "cowardice" in missing
opportunities to retake the separatist regions, and other
sensational crimes. End Summary.

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Five Directions of Okruashvili's Attack
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2. (U) In his most dramatic accusation, Okruashvili claimed
that, when he was in the government, on many occasions he
received personal instructions from the President to
"liquidate" prominent figures in the society. One such
figure was allegedly businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili.
Okruashvili claimed that instead of carrying out this
instruction, he mentioned it to other individuals who were
well-connected to the U.S. government, and that he believes
U.S. intervention led Saakashvili to stop mentioning the
idea. Okruashvili also raised the controversial carbon
monoxide poisoning death of Prime Minister Zhvania in 2005,
saying he had information to the effect that Zhvania's dead
body was taken to the apartment, where it was later found.


3. (U) Okruashvili's second line of attack was corruption in
Saakashvili's government. Okruashvili claimed that as the
Interior Minister he had briefly detained Saakashvili's
uncle, Temur Alasania, for taking a bribe, but had to release
him due to the "insistent request" of the President.
Okruashvili claimed that Saakashvili's family had accumulated
billions of dollars, stressing in particular that
Saakashvili's cousin, Nick Alasania, was involved in the
import of arms from Israel.


4. (U) The third direction was Saakashvili's alleged hatred
and fear of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which Okruashvili
said the President viewed as his "competitor" overshadowing
his glory. Okruashvili accused Saakashvili of attempting to
collect compromising information on church leaders in order
to undermine their authority.


5. (U) The fourth direction was aimed at social and economic
hardships, as Okruashvili questioned the necessity of
building posh hotels like the Hyatt, when an "ordinary man
from Kutaisi" had no means of staying in it, or of
constructing new highways when ordinary people could travel
on them "only in trucks loaded with vegetables."


6. (U) The fifth direction, which may well become
Okruashvili's strongest campaign theme, was on Georgia's
unresolved conflicts and lost territories. Okruashvili
stressed that in his period as Defense Minister, Georgia was
only "one step away" from regaining South Ossetia, but
because of the "cowardice and indecisiveness" of Saakashvili,
Georgia lost this unique chance. As Okruashvili described
it, the army was waiting for the order to carry out a small
but effective operation, but a fearful Saakashvili failed to
make this "political and historic decision." Okruashvili
said Saakashvili also failed to make up his mind to denounce
existing agreements on Peacekeeping Forces (PKFs),which
"legitimize the presence of Russian peacekeepers today."
According to Okruashvili, the only result attained so far by
Saakashvili's efforts is the "caricature figure" of Dimitriy
Sanakoyev in South Ossetia, who is "a bluff and a fiction of
Georgia's unification." Okruashvili concluded that under the
current leadership, which "moved in zigzags and was unable to
demonstrate a principled position either to the international
community or to Russia," Georgia was losing its chance to
regain Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

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Okruashvili Appeals to the Public, Opposition
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7. (U) In conclusion, Okruashvili appealed to the opposition
to forget old differences and start a new cooperation "from a
clean page." Okruashvili also called on the Georgian public
to join him in his "campaign against fear." "Join us if you
believe that the country is going in the wrong direction,
join us if you believe that Georgia is in the first place, do
not be afraid of Merabishvilis, Adeishvilis, Bokerias and the
like, do not be afraid of Saakashvili," concluded Okruashvili.


TBILISI 00002415 002 OF 002


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Reaction is Both Sensationalist and Tempered
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8. (SBU) Okruashvili's comments created a sensation among the
public, media and experts, though the initial reaction of
politicians, both of the majority and opposition, was
relatively low-key. Most opposition leaders refrained from
embracing Okruashvili. Ruling party representatives did not
go very far beyond characterizing Okruashvili's statements as
"laughable, staid, or degrading." Majority MP Giga Bokeria
said Okruashvili's statements sounded like those made by
Shalva Natelashvili, Igor Giorgadze, Jondi Baghaturia, or
some "other mixture of pro-Russian politicians." Bokeria's
comment implied that as the government started a crackdown on
corruption among his associates, Okruashvili made a
preemptive step to secure his political immunity. President
Saakashvili himself, currently at the UN General Assembly in
New York, has not yet commented on Okruashvili or his
statements.

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Comment
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9. (C) Okruashvili's emergence in opposition had long been
expected (reftel) but the scope and visceral nature of his
attacks on Saakashvili shocked even long-time observers of
Georgia's hyperbole-saturated politics. While we cannot
comment on the truth of all of Okruashvili's charges -- we
have no knowledge of any plan to kill Patarkatsishvili, for
example -- we know for sure that some are false: USG
participation in the Zhvania investigation made clear his
body was not moved. Okruashvili's claim that Saakashvili
refused to order the military to retake South Ossetia is
particularly significant and represents Okruashvili's attempt
to outflank Saakashvili on the right on the emotional issue
of Georgia's territorial integrity. We strongly believe
Saakashvili is right that there can be no military solution
to the conflicts, but Okruashvili is likely to continue to
hammer away at this theme.
TEFFT