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GEORGIA BIOS Temur Yakobashvili – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister

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GEORGIA BIOS Temur Yakobashvili – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister GEORGIA BIOS Temur Yakobashvili – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Integration • appointed in Jan 2008 • chief negotiator in Abkhazia and South Ossetia conflict • Jewish • named Deputy Prime Minister in 2009 • recently held talks with Robert Mueller, head of FBI,to discuss security “black holes” in two breakaway regions LG’s Take: Mr. Yakobashvili is an incredibly knowledgeable person in Georgia. He can speak to many different topics including foreign affairs, military, internal politics for Georgia. He tends to be very detail oriented in his talks, so I recommend coming prepared. He is very loyal to Saakashvili and the ruling party in the country. He is incredibly personable and will want to be a little familiar with you in talking, not so formal. He also has a playboy teenage son ;) . Eka Tkeshelashvili – National Security Chief • serving since Dec 2008 • served as Foreign Minister both during the Russia-Georgia War and also in May to Nov 2009 • served as min of Justice and Prosecutor General (all short terms) • leading the process of the Georgian military review LG’s TAKE: Ms. Tkeshelashvili is an incredibly intense woman (I would be too if I were FM during the war). She is vehemently anti-Russian (even more so than most Georgians). She describes Russian military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupation”. She will give it to you straight, but speaks mainly on broad terms. She does not “appreciate” Stratfor’s view that Georgia does not have many options since the War. She thinks we write too pro- Russian. Bacho Akhalaia – Minister of Defense • named DM in Aug 2009 • was appointed dep DM following August war in Dec 08 • close ally of Saakashvili and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili (2nd most powerful man in Georgia behind Saakashvili) • Only 30 yrs old • In 2005, Akhalaia was moved to the post of Head of Penitentiary Department of Ministry of Justice of Georgia. • accused of heavy-handed crackdown on Georgia's largest prison riot in 2006, in which 7 inmates died GEORGIA Key parties United National Movement - center-right ruling party of President Mikhail Saakashvili. Favors integration with EU and NATO. Gained nearly 60% of the vote in the last parliamentary election in 2008. Opposition - there are over a dozen opposition parties, but no major party that has broad support. The opposition has not been able to coalesce into a united movement, and are split over major issues (such as relations with Russia). Most of the parties of the leading opposition figures are not even represented in parliament. The opposition has gained much attention recently for their ties and talks with Russia, but until they consolidate into one group, then they will never gain any power. Note - a key regional election will be held this Sunday, May 30, in which the popularity of Saakashvili's UNM will be put to the test across the country. But Saakashvili and his party both have a high favorability rating, while the opposition remains divided and without significant support. In the key post of Tbilisi mayor, the UNM incumbent has a significant lead over the closest opponent, opposition figure Irakli Alasania (over 50 percent vs. Alasania's low teens). Key personalities Government: President - Mikhail Saakashvili • Came to power in Rose Revolution in 2004, re-elected in Jan 2008 • pro-western, pursuing membership in NATO and EU • anti-Russian, initiated August 2008 war by sending troops in troops to South Ossetia Minister of the Internal Affairs - Vano Merabishvili • appointed in Dec 2004 • close ally of Saakashvili, was in Saakashivili's United National Movement prior to Rose Revolution • served as National Security Advisor and Sec of NSC prior to Dec 2004 • perhaps most powerful figure after Saak, in control of police, border police, orchestrated crackdown on opposition Prime Minister/Head of Cabinet - Nikoloz Gilauri • named PM in Feb 2009 (6th since 2004) • former minister of energy, and finance • committed to NATO integration, Saak supporter National Security Council Secretary - Eka Tkeshelashvili • serving since Dec 2008 • served as FM for 6 months in May 2009, moved to NSC sec in reshuffle • served as min of Justice and Prosecutor General (all short terms) Opposition: Nino Burjanadze - leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia • Burjanadze is the most powerful person in Georgia who is not with Saakashvili. She use to be a loyalist, but broke from him around the time of the war. She is incredibly intelligent and connected in Russia, Europe & US. • served as Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia from November 2001 to June 2008. • served as the acting head of state of Georgia twice; the first time from 23 November 2003 to 25 January 2004 in the wake of Eduard Shevardnadze's resignation during the Rose Revolution, and again from 25 November 2007 to 20 January 2008, when Mikhail Saakashvili stepped do • Traveled to Moscow in early to 2010 to meet with Putin Zurab Noghaideli - leader Movement for Fair Georgia • served as the Prime Minister of Georgia from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007. • In December 2008, Noghaideli withdrew into opposition, setting up the Movement for Fair Georgia party. • In 2009 and early 2010, Noghaideli traveled several times in Russia, meeting top Russian officials, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (December 23, 2009). • Noghaideli's rapprochement with Moscow met a negative outcry in the Georgian government. President Saakashvili described Noghaideli's Russian stance as a "sin" • signed an agreement on cooperation with the “United Russia” Party. Irakli Alasania - leader Opposition Alliance for Georgia • Georgia’s Ambassador to the United Nations from September 11, 2006, until December 4, 2008. • His previous assignments include Chairman of the Government of Abkhazia(-in-exile) and the President of Georgia’s aide in the Georgian-Abkhaz talks. • According to opinion polls, is the most popular opposition leader, and who is the main challenger to Mr Saakashvili—announced in September that he will stand in the election for the mayor of the capital, Tbilisi. • Met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Germany. HOT TOPICS - GEORGIA Relations with Russia – Not too much needs to be explained here. Georgia's relations with Russia remain extremely tense and antagonistic. There is still no official dialogue between the two governments, and Russia has boosted its presence in the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Certain opposition figures have reached out to Russia and hold regular meetings with Moscow, which has served to distance the government from cooperating with Russia even more. Relations with West - Saakashvili has stood by his policy to do everything he can to integrate with the western politico-military institutions, particularly NATO and the EU. But the Europeans, distracted by their own financial woes and weary of upsetting a resurgent Russia, have largely dropped any explicit efforts of strengthening relations with Georgia. • Eastern Partnership program, which aims to increase ties between the EU and former Soviet states in easern Europe and the Caucasus, has largely fallen flat. (articles below) • The Europeans – there is also some friction going on currently between Georgia and the main European countries like Germany and France. Tbilisi sees it as Germany outright abandoned them and France has now betrayed them with the Mistral deal (articles below) with Russia. They mainly see Poland as their last friend in Europe. • The US has maintained a rhetorical commitment to the Georgians, and has participated in military exercises with the country, but has committed far short of the levels that Georgia would like to see. Military Review - Georgia is in the process of conducting a comprehensive review of its military (articles below). The war with Russia showed the Georgians that their equipment — most of which was from the Soviet era — simply did not work against the more powerful Russian military. Furthermore, the pro-Western Georgia, which is a NATO partner but not an official member, did not get the support from NATO members that it sorely wanted and needed during the war. • The Georgians have already defined the two areas of focus for their strategy: independent territorial defense, and political deterrence achieved by moving ever closer to NATO membership. • Georgia is also going to wait on asking for any new equipment from NATO friends until after the review is over… .then they will take their shopping lists around to see who will give or sell them what toys. • This is critical especially because the three largest suppliers of military equipment to Georgia (Kazakhstan, Israel and Czech Republic) have each decided to not sell to Georgia anymore on Russian nudging. So Georgia will have to go to someone else. Opposition - The Georgian opposition has been trying to coalesce in order to weaken the strong hold on power held by Saakashvili and his allies. There have been three figures that have emerged of potential leaders of the opposition - former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze, former ambassador to the UN Irakli Alasania, and former PM Zurab Noghaideli - all three of which have made visits to Moscow recently or met with Russian officials. Nogaideli in particular has aligned closely with Moscow, forming a partnership between his Movement for a Fair Georgia party and Putin's ruling United Russia party. But these overtures to Russia have been controversial, both with other opposition figures and the wider public, and have failed to united the opposition movement under a united stance. The opposition therefore remains divided between over a dozen parties with no clear leader or united vision for the foreseeable future. (articles below) Regional elections - Georgia will hold regional elections May 30 across the country, the first elections held in the country since the August 2008 war with Russia. These elections are being touted as a referendum on Saakashvili's policies over the last two years.
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