SAAKASHVILI QUESTIONS INTERIOR MINISTER ON MOD

UNCLAS TBILISI 002532 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR DAS BRYZA AND EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM GG SUBJECT: SAAKASHVILI QUESTIONS INTERIOR MINISTER ON MOD OFFICIAL'S ESCAPE, OPPOSITION RESPONDS TO BURJANADZE REF: TBILISI 2483 ¶1. (U) Summary: During a televised government session with his cabinet, President Saakashvili criticized Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili for allowing the former Head of Procurements at the MOD, Iason Chikhladze, to escape to Russia. Merabishvili said Chikhladze traveled to Turkey with Okruashvili before traveling on to Russia with a fake passport. During the session, Saakashvili also pledged to re-launch an employment program and offered GEL 100 million for one-time social benefits for teachers and pensioners to compensate for the increased cost of gas and electricity. The opposition parties called Burjanadze's statement belated, and offered dialogue on early parliamentary elections only. End Summary. -------------- --- Saakashvili: How did Chikhladze Escape to Russia? -------------- --- ¶2. (U) On October 4 in a televised session with the cabinet, Saakashvili grilled Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili about the whereabouts of Iason Chikhladze, former chief of procurements at the MOD, who is wanted on corruption charges. Merabishvili told the President that Chikhladze traveled to Turkey with Okruashvili in mid-September and then fled from there to Russia with a fake passport. Whereabouts are also unknown for Alexander Sukhitashvili, ex-deputy defense minister who resigned in July and also traveled to Turkey with Okruashvili. ¶3. (U) Saakashvili went on to bemoan the escape of Chikhladze, a man with access to secret information from the MOD, He said Chikhladze is now in Russia, with the Russian Federal Security Service, and Georgia might as well "open our doors and let every intelligence service here now as they already know everything." Saakashvili stressed to the cabinet that his comments were not a "personal reprimand," but instead a "bitter lesson for us all." -------------- -------------- Saakashvili Promises Social Benefits and Employment Program -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) Saakashvili offered at least GEL 100 million for social benefits for teachers and pensioners in the form of compensation packages to cover higher tariffs for electricity and gas, and wheat in some provinces. He also said the state should re-launch last year's state-funded employment program offering paid internships to the unemployed. Saakashvili claimed that despite its flaws, the program was generally successful. He said 50,000 people participated. The Ministry of Healthcare, Labor and Social Welfare puts the total closer to 35,000. -------------- -------------- Opposition responds to Speaker Burjanadze Statement -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) On October 3, Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze gave an interview in which she called for dialogue between the government and the opposition. MP Kahka Kukava from the Conservative Party and Tina Khidasheli from the Republicans separately called Burjanadze's statement belated, empty words. They offered a dialogue on early parliamentary elections only. They also did not accept Burjanadze's assessment that Okruashvili's appointment was nothing more than a personnel mistake. Manana Nachkepia, leader of the New Rightists, said the party is ready for dialogue but criticized Burjanadze for not calling for talks earlier. In an interview on Imedi TV, Georgian Labor Party leader Shalva Natelashvili offered Saakashvili a friendly piece of advice: he should dissolve Parliament and name a date for new elections, thereby leaving office without bloodshed. TEFFT