Mikheil Saakashvili by Levan Urushadze
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See also Mikheil Saakashvili
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Dr. Mikheil N. Saakashvili (born December 21, 1967), Georgian jurist and politician, President of the Republic of Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili born in Tbilisi. In 1992 he graduated from the Faculty of International Law of the Kiev University (Ukraine). In 1994 he received a law degree from Columbia University, in 1995 a Doctorate degree from the Law School at George Washington University. In 1995 he received also a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. He is married to Sandra Roelofs, of Dutch origin.
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1995-2001
In 1995-2001 Saakashvili was a member of the Union of Citizens of Georgia (Party of the ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze). In 1995-2000 he was also a member of the Parliament of Georgia. On January 24, 2000 Saakashvili was elected as the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where he led the Georgian delegation for one year.
On October 12, 2000 Dr. Saakashvili was appointed as the Minister of Justice of Georgia. He initiated major reforms in the decrepit, corrupt and highly politicised Georgian criminal justice and prisons system. This earned praise from many international observers and human rights activists.
On September 5, 2001 he resigned from the Ministerial Office in protest to the total corruption in the Georgian government. "I consider it immoral for me to remain as a member of Shevardnadze's government" he said.
Leader of the opposition
Having resigned from the government and quit the Shevardnadze-run Union of Citizens of Georgia party, Saakashvili founded the United National Movement (since February 24, 2004 political organization National Movement-Democrats) in October, 2001 to provide a focus for Georgian reformists.
On June, 2002 the United National Movement won local elections and Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as the Chairman of the Tbilisi Assembly ("Sakrebulo").
Georgia held parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003 which were denounced by local and international observers as being grossly rigged.
Since November 9, 2003 against the total falsification of the results of the Parliamentary Elections and total corruption in the Shevardnadze's government, started the powerful and peaceful protest movement headed by the election block "Saakashvili-National Movement".
On November 14, 2003, in Tbilisi, at the building of the Georgian Parliament was held multythousand peaceful action of the opposition. Mikheil Saakashvili called on the start a large scale nonviolent civil disobedience on the whole territory of Georgia. Main goal of this resistance movement was resignation of President Shevardnadze and his government.
Massive political demonstrations (the so-called "Georgia's Rose Revolution") were held in Tblisi between November 20 and November 23, with over 100,000 people participating and listening to speeches by Saakashvili and other opposition figures. After an increasingly tense two weeks of demonstrations, Shevardnadze bowed to the inevitable and resigned as President on November 23, to be replaced on an interim basis by parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze.
President
On January 4, 2004 Mikheil Saakashvili won the Presidential Elections in the Republic of Georgia with more than 96% of the votes, making him the youngest national President in Europe. Saakashvili ran on a platform of opposing corruption and improving pay and pensions. He has promised to improve relations with the outside world. Although he is strongly pro-Western and intends to seek Georgian membership of NATO and the European Union, he has also spoken of the importance of better relations with Russia. He faces major problems, however, particularly Georgia's difficult economic situation and the still unresolved question of separatism in the regions of Ajaria, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Abkhazia regards itself as independent of Georgia and did not take part in the elections, while Ajaria's leadership has expressed concern about Saakashvili's desire to revive the authority of the Georgian government in the regions.
Saakashvili was inaugurated in Tblisi on January 25, 2004. Immediately after the ceremony he signed a decree establishing a new state flag. On January 26, in a ceremony held at the Tbilisi Kashueti Church of Saint George, he promulgated a decree granting permission for the return of the body of the first President of the Republic of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, from Grozny (Chechen Republic) to Tbilisi and renaming a major road in the capital after Zviad Gamsakhurdia. He also released 32 Gamsakhurdia supporters (political prisoners) imprisoned by the Shevardnadze's regime in 1992-1995.
In February-March, 2004, President Saakashvili was visiting Azerbaijan, Russia, the USA, France, Armenia and carried on talks with the leaders of these countries. The United States and France expressed full support of Georgia and approve of its foreign policy with respect to Russia. Mentioned policy turn to equal in rights cooperation of the Republic of Georgia with Russia, to take out the Russian military bases from Georgia and to non-intervention of Russia in home affairs of sovereign Georgia.
Governmental circles of the USA and the European countries positively assessed also unshakable fight of the President of Georgia and his authority against corruption, deep-rooted during twelve-year ruling of Shevardnadze's regime. It made a good start reforms of the police system, of the economic and taxation policy, the sphere of education.
Strained relations came into existence between the authority of the Republic of Georgia and guidance of the Autonomous republic of Ajara create a very problematic situation in the country. These relations started to come to a bad end thanks to very destructive politics of the leader of Ajara Aslan Abashidze and his encirclement. In particular this was shown in February-March, 2004, when were victimized the representatives of the organizations supported President Saakashvili. Culmination of the opposition was on March 13, 2004, when the para-military groups of Ajara blocked Mikheil Saakashvili's and the accompanying him person's way to the Autonomous Republic. In spite of this impudent trick President Saakashvili refused from using of the force and applied the severe economic sanctions.
Sanctions against the Ajarian authority gave the positive outcome. Aslan abashidze agreed to meet with President Saakashvili in Batumi. On March 18, 2004, Mikheil Saakashvili arrived to batumi together with some members of the Government of Georgia and had prolonged dialogue with the leader of the Autonomous Republic and his encirclement. It was reached following understanding: 1. All budget problems between Tbilisi and Batumi will be taken down; 2. The groups of the population of Ajara armed by Abashidze's edict will be disarmed; 3. Ajara will completely ensure holding of the Parliamentary Elections of Georgia on March 28, 2004; 4. All prisoners arrested in Ajara for their political convictions must be released. For all that the official representative of the President of the Republic of Georgia in the Autonomous Republic of Ajara was assigned. He will inspect execution of the achieved understandings and fulfilment of the Georgian constitutional and legislative standards in Ajara.
