Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili | |
|---|---|
| File:Mikhail Saakshvili briefing the press at the UN.jpg | |
| 4th President of Georgia | |
| Assumed office January 25, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Nino Burjanadze (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 21, 1967 Tbilisi, Georgia |
| Nationality | georgian |
| Political party | National Movement - Democrats |
| Spouse | Sandra Roelofs |
Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgian: მიხეილ სააკაშვილი) (born December 21, 1967, in Tbilisi) is a Georgian jurist and politician and the current President of Georgia.
Saakashvili's given name is also used in the Russian form Mikhail (he is commonly known as "Misha"). It is also transliterated Mixeil Saakašvili.
He is married to Sandra Roelofs, of Dutch origin, and has two sons, Eduard and Nikoloz. He is reported to be fluent in seven languages, including English, French, Spanish, and Russian. On 5 July 2006, he had a 16-minute discussion in front of the press with President George W. Bush without a translator[1].
Early career
Saakashvili graduated from the School of International Law of the Kiev State University (Ukraine) in 1992. He briefly worked for the government of Tengiz Kitovani and Jaba Ioseliani following the overthrow of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia before receiving a fellowship from the United States State Department (via the Edmund S. Muskie/FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) Graduate Fellowship Program).
He received law degrees from Columbia in 1994 and the law school at The George Washington University Law School the following year. In 1995, he also received a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
After graduation, while working in the New York law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler in early 1995, Saakashvili was approached by Zurab Zhvania, an old friend from Georgia who was working on behalf of President Eduard Shevardnadze to recruit talented young Georgians to enter politics. He stood in the December 1995 elections along with Zhvania, and both men won seats in parliament, standing for the Union of Citizens of Georgia, Shevardnadze's party.
Saakashvili soon made a name for himself as chairman of the parliamentary committee charged with creating a new electoral system, an independent judiciary and a non-political police force. He achieved a high degree of public recognition, with opinion surveys finding him to be the second most popular person in Georgia, behind Shevardnadze. He was named "man of the year" by a panel of journalists and human rights advocates in 1997. In January 2000, Saakashvili was appointed Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
On October 12, 2000, Saakashvili became Minister for Justice for the government of President Shevardnadze. 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. But in mid-2001 he became involved in a major controversy with the Economics Minister Vano Chkhartishvili, State Security Minister Vakhtang Kutateladze and Tbilisi police chief Soso Alavidze, accusing them of profiting from corrupt business deals.
Saakashvili resigned on September 5, 2001, saying that "I consider it immoral for me to remain as a member of Shevardnadze's government." He declared that corruption had penetrated to the very centre of the Georgian government and that Shevardnadze lacked the will to deal with it, warning that "current developments in Georgia will turn the country into a criminal enclave in one or two years."
Opposition
Having resigned from the government and quit the Shevardnadze-run Union of Citizens of Georgia party, Saakashvili founded the United National Movement (UNM) in October, 2001, a left-of-center political party akin to the Social Democrats in Europe with a touch of nationalism, to provide a focus for part of the Georgian reformists leaders. In June 2002, he was elected as the Chairman of the Tbilisi Assembly ("Sakrebulo") following an agreement between the United National Movement and the Georgian Labour Party. This gave him a powerful new platform from which to criticize the government.
Georgia held parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003 which were denounced by local and international observers as being grossly rigged. Saakashvilli claimed that he had won the elections (a claim supported by independent exit polls), and urged Georgians to demonstrate against Shevardnadze's government and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience against the authorities. Saakashvili's UNM and Burdjanadze-Democrats united to demand the ouster of Shevardnadze and the rerun of the elections.
Massive political demonstrations (the so-called "Rose Revolution") were held in Tbilisi between November 20 and November 23, with over 100,000 people participating and listening to speeches by Saakashvili and other opposition figures. “Kmara” (“Enough!”) youth organization (a Georgian counterpart of the Serbian “Otpor”) and several NGOs, like Liberty Institute, were active in all protest activities. 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. While the revolutionary leaders did their best to stay within the Constitutional norms, many called the change of government a popular coup.
On February 24, 2004 the United National Movement and the United Democrats had amalgamated. New political movement was named the National Movement - Democrats (NMD). The movement's main political priorities include raising pensions and providing social services to the poor, its main base of support; fighting corruption; and increasing state revenue.
President
On January 4, 2004 Mikheil Saakashvili won the presidential elections in Georgia with more than 96% of the votes cast, 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 Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Abkhazia regards itself as independent of Georgia and did not take part in the elections, whilst South Ossetia favours union with its northern counterpart in Russia.
Saakashvili was sworn in as President in Tbilisi 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 Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, from Grozny (Chechen Republic) to Tbilisi and renaming a major road in the capital after Gamsakhurdia. He also released 32 Gamsakhurdia supporters (political prisoners) imprisoned by the Shevardnadze government in 1993-94.
Human Rights Developments
 | The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
There have been some concerns about Saakashvili's authoritarian tendencies since coming to office in 2004. However the government's human rights record has shown a dramatic improvement compared to that of the Sheverdnadze era.
Saakashvili occasionally uses aggressive language, an example of which was reported by Amnesty International around the time of the President's innauguration. At a news briefing on 12 January, Saakashvili advised the then Justice Minister "to use force when dealing with any attempt to stage prison riots, and to open fire, shoot to kill and destroy any criminal who attempts to cause turmoil. We will not spare bullets against these people." Whilst such rhetoric has been criticized as inciting further problems by Human Rights groups, many have attributed it to Saakashvili's inexperience and determination to clean up Georgia. In addition to concerns about the President's statements, protests have occasionally been broken up by heavy-handed police officers, and some accusations of media pressure have surfaced.
In 2004 a new Media Law sparked controversy, with fourteen Georgian Civil Society leaders and Georgian experts writing an open letter to the President, published in several national newspapers, claiming "Intolerance towards people with different opinions is being planted in Georgian politics and in other spheres of social life".
On June 30 2005 riot police and special military forces carrying machine guns violently dispersed hundreds of protesters blocking a major road in Tbilisi. It started as protest against the arrest of two well-known sportsmen accused in blackmail but soon grew into a demonstration against the central authorities. 25 people were arrested including 5 members of opposition parties[1].
On March 27 2006 the government announced that it had prevented a nation-wide prison riot plotted by criminal kingpins. The Police operation ended with the deaths of 7 inmates and at least 17 injuries. Whilst the Parliamentary opposition has cast doubts over the official version and demanded an independent investigation, the ruling party has been able to vote down such initiatives.[2].
The conduct of the Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case has also raised eyebrows at home and abroad. Several senior Interior Ministry officials were alleged to have played active roles in the murder, yet in spite of a series of resignations and sackings, only four low-ranking individuals have been prosecuted. In addition to this, Georgian buisnessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, has claimed that pressure has been exerted on his financial interests after Imedi Television broadcast several accusations against officials.
The partisan BHHRG has frequently claimed that the new government immediately set out to settle scores with Shevardnadze era officials. Many former ministers, local administrators and businessmen associated with the former regime were arrested for abuse of office. Despite the necessity of this, some Western organisations were concerned by the live broadcasting of these arrests and by President Saakashvili's occasional appearances on television to denounce the suspects, before any charges were laid.
In spite of these criticisms many European and U.S commentators have lauded the new government for taking bold measures in the fight against corruption. In addition the U.S State Department noted that during 2005 'the government amended several laws and increased the amount of investigations and prosecutions reducing the amount of abuse and ill-treatment in pre-trial detention facilities'. The status of religious freedom also improved due to increased investigation and prosecution of those harrasing followers of non-traditional faiths.
See also
References
External links
- The official site of the President of Georgia
- Journal: Modern Georgia's Young Founding Fathers by Stephen Kinzer, New York Times, June 4, 1998
- Caspian Business News article on Mrs. Saakashvili-Roelofs
- BBC News Online profile of Mikhail Saakashvili