GEORGIA: WEEKEND MEDIA REVIEW: NEW OFFER, SAME OLD

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001147 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: WEEKEND MEDIA REVIEW: NEW OFFER, SAME OLD STORY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Over the weekend, several politicians, including President Saakashvili, appeared in the media to discuss ongoing protests and political stalemate in Georgia. Saakashvili offered to allow twelve opposition leaders to reclaim their abandoned seats in Parliament and offered to amend the law to allow them to do so. Opposition leaders rejected the idea, responding that their decision to forsake their mandates was a "moral, principled decision" and that the President's rhetoric demonstrates just how much he "deems himself to be the state itself." On other issues such as Salome Zourabichvili's (Georgia's Way) bid for Deputy Minster of Interior, investigation into protest-related attacks, dialogue with the opposition, and the (im)possibility of early parliamentary or presidential elections, Saakashvili restated earlier positions. End summary. Saakashvili's Latest Offer ¶2. (U) On June 19,2009, Saakashvili gave a lengthy interview on Rustavi 2's talk show Positsiya, during which he offered twelve opposition leaders who declined their legislative mandates to return to Parliament. He stated that if they wished to reclaim their seats, the law would be amended to allow them to do so. Eka Beselia (Movement for United Georgia) commented that relinquishing their positions was a "moral, principled decision" and therefore could not be reversed. Davit Usupashvili (Republican Party) reacted angrily to the President's latest proposal; he scoffed at Saakashvili for thinking he could change the Parliament or amend the law at whim, saying that it demonstrated just how much the President "deems himself to be the state itself" and characterizing Saakashvili's rhetoric as "beyond political analysis." (Embassy Comment: Usupashvili did not cross the threshold for a parliamentary seat so he would have not been among those able to take advantage of the offer. Beselia, on the other hand, crossed the threshold as a member of the United Opposition party list. End Comment.) Regarding the President,s previous offer of deputy minister positions to opposition leaders, Saakashvili repeated that Zourabichvili could not serve as Deputy Minster of Interior as long as she continued participating in protest rallies and "swearing at the police." Protest-Related Incidents - Investigations in Progress? ¶3. (U) Over the weekend, several opposition leaders announced that members of their parties have been detained for alleged drug use or illegal carrying of arms, although they suspect the arrests were politically motivated. Usupashvili stated that seven members of his party have been detained, Zourabichivili stated that a member of the youth wing of her party named Jobava was detained, Konstantin Gamsakhurdia (Freedom Party) stated that a member of his party named Tsomaia was detained, and Zviad Dzidziguri (Conservative Party) stated that a member of the youth wing of his party named Soso Keburia was detained. When asked about pressure from opposition groups to investigate cases of attacks on opposition activists and supporters, Saakashvili commented that everything will be investigated "sooner or later - sooner rather than later." (Note: Post is following up on these allegations directly with MOIA. End note). Same Old Story ¶4. (U) Saakashvili maintained potential remains for dialogue with opposition leaders, pointing out that many meetings have taken place with such leaders, although many were not publicly announced. He reiterated that the ongoing protest rallies will not succeed in forcing him to resign and that Qrallies will not succeed in forcing him to resign and that there will not be early parliamentary or presidential elections; however, he again suggested that local elections could be held in spring 2010 instead of later that year. The President said that "complicating life" should not be the goal in itself of the street demonstrations. However, according to him, "we have gained a lot from these rallies" since nothing that could have portrayed Georgia as undemocratic has happened. ¶5. (U) Interestingly, Saakashvili played his own adversary when commenting on how the street protests have hurt the country's economy: he argued that if he were in the opposition, he would criticize the government for its handling of security and social issues. He identified Georgia's major problem as the occupation of its territories and threat to its statehood. Nevertheless, Saakashvili maintained his familiar stance on the August conflict with Russia, stating that Georgia has lost neither the war nor its territories; rather, the country remains in a "huge and daily struggle" to regain its territorial integrity, he said. He also noted that he has not given up on developing Georgia's armed forces. TBILISI 00001147 002 OF 002 The Moscow Factor - Real or Imagined? ¶6. (U) When asked about Moscow's hand in the ongoing protests, the President said that he "cannot point the finger at anyone - although we have some information," preferring instead to defer to law enforcement and the judiciary to determine the Russians' involvement. Zourabichvili appeared on Inga Grigolia's talk show and stated that Saakashvili distracts the people of Georgia with external threats and foreign agents to draw their attention away from Georgia's internal problems. She noted that politicians in the last stage of their political lives tend to employ this tactic to deflect negative attention from their administration. Over the weekend, Levan Gachechiladze announced that he had traveled abroad and expected to receive funding from undisclosed foreign donors. Gachechiladze declined to provide any further details. TEFFT