NOV. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia submitted a revised budget for 2015 that increased state expenditure, most eye-catchingly boosting pensions. The increase will mainly be funded by raising tax on alcohol and cigarettes. The coalition government has been looking for a policy to boost its supporter base.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The fallout from the sacking of Georgian defence minister Irakli Alasania rumbled on. As predicted, Georgia’s foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, and minister for European integration, Aleksi Petriashvili, both also resigned.
They belong to the same party as Mr Alasania, the Free Democrats. The party also withdrew its support for the Georgian Dream coalition, wiping out its majority in parliament.
Mr Alasania was officially sacked for insubordination after he criticised the arrest of ministry of defence officials for alleged corruption.
These sackings weaken the government of PM Irakli Garibashvili. They have also created a potentially dangerous political enemy in Mr Alasania. He was one of the most charismatic ministers and could drum up support to challenge the government.
For now, though, Mr Garibashvili and his patron, former PM and leader of the Georgian Dream coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili, were quick to deride Mr Alasania as an ambitious adventurer.
The coalition that Mr Ivanishvili created and that Mr Garibashvili leads had been built for one main purpose — to topple Mikheil Saakashvili from power. With that ambition achieved in parliamentary election in 2012 and presidential elections in 2013 it was always likely that the coalition was going to unravel. This unravelling is a natural re-balancing of Georgian politics.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)
NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s PM Irakli Garbishvili sacked his defence minister Irakli Alasania for insubordination, throwing the coalition government into its most severe test of credibility since winning power at a parliamentary election in 2012 and then a presidential election in 2013.
Mr Alasania is head of the Free Democrats party which could withdraw its support for the Georgian Dream, the opposition coalition put together by Georgia’s richest man Bidzine Ivanishvili to oust Mikheil Saakshvili from power.
Georgian foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, and Aleksi Petriashvili, the minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, are also members of the Free Democrats and are likely to resign from the government.
Without the 10 Free Democrats MPs, Georgia Dream loses its majority in Georgia’s parliament. It drops its representation to 75 MPs, out of 150.
Reports from Tbilisi said Mr Alasania was furious about the arrest of 10 officials from the ministry of defence for alleged corruption. He countered that the officials were innocent and that the arrests were part of a plot to undermine his staunchly pro-NATO and pro-Western agenda. The current government is broadly pro-West too, although it has mended ties with Russia.
Mr Alasania was on a trip to Europe when the arrests took place. Despite a busy schedule he still found time to openly criticise the arrests. This was enough for his boss, Mr Garbishvili, probably with the support of Mr Ivanishvili, to fire him.
Mr Alasania is a popular politician. His sacking has shaken Georgian politics.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
NOV. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia and Georgia are building a €300m electrical line between the two countries, Armenian energy minister Ara Simonyan told a cabinet meeting. The power line will improve the Georgian and Armenian electricity grid and help solidify the countries’ trade relations.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – he European Court of Human Rights ordered Georgia to pay Sulkhan Molashvili, a former official in the state audit committee, $25,000 compensation for wrongly being imprisoned in 2004 for corruption. The current Georgian government has charged former ministers under ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili of abuse of power.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
T
NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Georgia eased to an annual rate of 3.4% in October, down from 4.8% in September, the national statistics office reported. Although other economies in the region are suffering with the downturn in Russia’s economy, Georgia’s is relatively buoyant.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
I
OCT. 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a speech to potential foreign investors, Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili underlined the economic importance of the Baku- Tbilisi-Kars railway, due to launch next year, to Georgia. The railway will supposedly give industry and business across the region a boost.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)
OCT. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s General Prosecutor arrested four current and one former senior military officials for corruption. The officers are accused of organising a sham tender for military procurements. The arrests will be a blow to Georgia aspires to join NATO.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)
OCT. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A group of Iranian MPs visited Georgia for talks with their Georgian counterparts, media reported, highlighting the increasingly close relations between the two countries. Georgia has become a popular destination for Iranians looking to set up businesses as a way around sanctions imposed by the West.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)
OCT. 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia sentenced former defence minister Bacho Akhalaia to 7-1/2 years in prison for abuse of power and torture.
Akhalaia is the most high-profile member of the former government of Mikheil Saakashvili to be sent to prison. The current government, headed by members of the Georgian Dream coalition, has said it has to pursue former ministers on various corruption and abuse charges although Mr Saakashvili and his allies have called the charges a witch hunt.
The European Union and the United States have both warned the current government of using its powers to pursue personal vendettas. The US repeated its warning after the imprisonment of Akhalaia.
“We continue to stress to the Georgian Government the importance of due process and rule of law and of conducting investigations with transparency to avoid even the perception that the judicial system is being used for political retribution,” a US State Department spokesman said.
The big risk for the Georgian government is that it is undermining the country’s positive image with the West.
Akhalaia was already held in pre-trial detention. His conviction dates back to the torture of four inmates in 2006 when he was head of the Georgian prison service. He was also a former interior minister.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 206, published on Oct. 29 2014)