Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze (born 25 January 1928) served under Mikhail Gorbachev as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1990. He served as president of the Republic of Georgia from 1995 until 23 November 2003, when he resigned in the midst of mounting criticism.

He was born in the Lanchkhuti region of Georgia and joined the communist party in 1948 and became of member of the Georgian Supreme Soviet in 1959. Shevardnadze was the Georgian Minister for Internal Affairs from 1968 to 1972 and then the first secretary of the Communist Party in the Georgian SSR from 1972 to 1985. He became a member of the Politburo and Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1985, playing a key role in the détente which marked the end of the cold war. The Soviet era was ending; as the country descended into crisis, Gorbachev fought to preserve socialist government and the unity of the USSR, while Shevardnadze advocated further political and economic liberalisation. He resigned in protest against Gorbachev's policies in 1990.

Shevardnadze is the second president of Georgia since the 1991 Collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1992 Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia was forced from power, the presidency abolished and Shevardnadze was appointed acting chairman of the Georgian state council. When the Presidency was restored in November 1995 Shevardnadze was elected with 70% of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000.

During his Presidency he has had three assassination attempts against him. He has also had to deal with four separatist movements within the country.

The United States has been a strong supporter of Shevardnadze for helping end the Cold War when he was the Soviet foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev.

On November 2, 2003, a parliamentary election was held that was widely denounced as unfair by international election observers, as well as the U.N. and the U.S. government. Protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia broke into Parliament on November 21 as the first session of the new Parliament was beginning, forcing President Shevardnadze to escape with his bodyguards. He later declared a state of emergency and said he would not resign. Nino Burdzhanadze, an opposition leader, said she would act as president until the situation was resolved.

Later, the leader of the opposition Mikhail Saakashvili stated he would guarantee Shevardnadze's safety and support him coming back as President if he promised to call early presidential elections. Both sides had said that they are against any violence that would remind them of the last protest of this size in Georgia which sparked a civil war in 1991. Given this context, the protesters have called this coup attempt a "Velvet Revolution".

Shevardnadze resigned on November 23, saying he did so for the good of the country in order to avert a bloody power struggle—"so all this can end peacefully and there is no bloodshed and no casualties". However, it is widely speculated that the refusal of the armed forces to enforce his emergency decree was the main cause of his resignation.

References

• Foes of Georgian Leader Storm Into Parliament Building by Seth Mydans, from the New York Times Web Site.
• Georgian Interior Minister Vows to Enforce State of Emergency on the Voice of America News Web Site.
• People power forces Georgia leader out from BBC News online.