GEORGIA: PROTEST UPDATE - GACHECHILADZE TALKING

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 001041

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: PROTEST UPDATE - GACHECHILADZE TALKING

REF: TBILISI 1033

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary/Comment: Protests again were meager on June
4 and appear to be losing more momentum. The Ambassador met
with Irakli Alasania (Alliance) at his request. Alasania
confirmed that Levan Gachechiladze is speaking with the GoG.
Alasania said that according to Gachechiladze, Saakashvili
had agreed to meet and discuss Gachechiladze as a potential
Prime Minister. Alasania said that he and other moderates
supported the talks. Alasania also indicated that he feels
that he has been temporarily sidelined as the GoG has shifted
its focus to Gachechiladze. Gachechiladze's willngness to
discuss realistic compromise scenarios with the support of
some non-parliamentary leaders is a small but possibly
significant development. At a minimum, the GoG and
non-parliamentary opposition have two open channels for
discussions. Nonetheless, the GoG appears willing to move on
with or without negotiations, highlighted by both Speaker
Bakradze and President Saakashvili making terse statements
about the non-parliamentary opposition's demands.
Non-parliamentary opposition leaders Alasania, Burjanadze,
Zourabichvili and Kukava have scheduled a late afternoon
meeting June 5 with the diplomatic corps. End
Summary/Comment.

Alasania Says Levan Possibly Ready to Deal


2. (C) Alasania told the Ambassador that the GoG had been
speaking with Gachechiladze who told Alasania that they had
offered him the position of Prime Minister. Alasania said
that he and a number of other more moderate leaders supported
Gachechiladze pursuing dialogue while more radical members
opposed dialogue. A potential meeting with Saakashvili was
tentatively arranged, but Gachechiladze got cold feet.
Nevertheless, Alasania expects Gachechiladze to meet with
Saakashvili in the near future. Alasania said his channel
with Speaker Bakradze had come to a temporary standstill.
Alasania said that he thought the GoG was shifting their
focus to Gachechiladze, but did not speculate as to the
reasons the shift had occurred.

Saakashvili - Bakradze Lay Down the Line


3. (C) After his meeting with Avtandil Demetrashvili, the
incoming chairman of the newly formed Constitutional
Commission, President Saakashvili ruled out the possibility
of early elections saying he would not yield "to pressure
from the street". Saakashvili continued that "(e)verybody
has seen that the government will not take decisions upon
pressure from the streets. But on the other hand dialogue
and taking into consideration society's interests is very
important in order to achieve civil peace and unity."
Bakradze followed the same line in a sharp response to
question about Alasania's early comments that the GoG was
unwilling to engage in dialogue. Bakradze chastised the
non-parliamentary opposition saying that"(i)f the opposition
wants and is interested in constitutional reform and a strong
parliament, we call on them and we expect them to participate
in the work of the commission on constitutional reform."
Bakradze repeated that the non-parliamentary opposition
should participate in the electoral code working group and
anti-crisis council if they are truly serious about
democratic reform. Bakradze closed his statement noting that
the GoG's position was "that we need to move from words to
deeds and we offer practical steps to the opposition for
launching a dialogue."
TEFFT