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