GEORGIA: GOVERNMENT PLEDGES CONTINUED RESTRAINT ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 000847 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: GOVERNMENT PLEDGES CONTINUED RESTRAINT ON PROTESTS Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Summary. Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili and Deputy FM Giga Bokeria both assured the Ambassador during separate meetings May 1 that the Government would be patient with the demonstrators and that no force would be used against them. Merabishvili also agreed that there would be no retribution against the opposition once the protest actions were over. The Ambassador sought these meetings to underscore the need for continued restraint and to assure key Government officials that Washington understood and appreciated the Government's patient approach. Merabishvili noted that according to focus groups run by the Government, the vast majority of Georgians, including National Movement supporters, oppose the use of any force against the demonstrators. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Ambassador and DCM met May 1 with Minister of Internal Affairs Merabishvili and Ministry Spokesman Shota Utiashvili to discuss the continuing deadlock with the protesters on the streets. The Ambassador urged the Government to continue to be patient and restrained in dealing with the protesters. He also asked there be no Government retribution against the opposition once the protests ended; although there might be cases in which arrests would be justified, this should not be a case for vigilante action. The Ambassador said that the Government should not only prosecute opposition members who broke the law; he hoped that the Government would also prosecute their own supporters too if laws were broken. ¶3. (C) In response, Merabishvili chuckled that he, like the rest of Tbilisi, really had no idea of what the opposition was trying to accomplish in the streets. He said that all agreed in the Government that force would not be used against the protesters. According to Merabishvili, the Government had organized focus groups over the past few weeks consisting of UNM ruling party supporters, neutrals and opposition supporters. What had been striking was that the focus groups showed that even the government supporters did not want a police crackdown. Merabishvli took on board the Ambassador's comments regarding retribution, noting that he understood. He noted that when the police tried to investigate incidents involving opposition supporters, the opposition had not provided assistance or support. Merabishvili said that he was sure that most of the funding for the protests was still coming from Nino Burjanadze and that approximately 1 million GEL (about $600,000) had been spent already to keep protesters in the streets. ¶4. (C) At a separate May 1 meeting with Deputy FM (and Saakashvili insider) Giga Bokeria, Ambassador made the same points. Bokeria also agreed that the Government had no plans to use force and understood that there should be no retribution against the opposition once the protest actions were over. However, Bokeria also argued that the Government needed to uphold law and order, and that if the protests did not end soon, the public's anger against the protesters would turn into anger against the Government for not taking action. TEFFT