Georgia Official Urges Nation to Press On
Associated Press
February 4, 2005
By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer
TBILISI, Georgia – Georgia’s parliamentary speaker cut short a foreign
trip after the death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and returned to the
stunned republic Friday, urging the government to retain its momentum in
reinvigorating the country.
Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, an ally of Zhvania and President
Mikhail Saakashvili, returned from a private visit to Italy and called
on the government to continue working as usual despite “a big loss for
Georgian politics and the Georgian state.”
Zhvania, 41, was found dead early Thursday at a friend’s home,
apparently poisoned by carbon monoxide from a gas-fired heating stove.
Initial tests showed Zhvania’s blood had nearly double the fatal level
of carbon monoxide, a forensics service spokeswoman said. His host also
died.
Authorities called Zhvania’s death an accident, but many people in
Georgia – plagued by a history of political intrigue, conflicts with
breakaway regions and tense relations with Russia – were skeptical. One
lawmaker linked Zhvania’s death and a car bombing Tuesday near
separatist South Ossetia, and hinted at Russian involvement.
A small knot of mourners gathered for a second day Friday outside the
home of Zhvania’s mother in central Tbilisi. Rudimentary repairs were
swiftly made to the old brick building’s dilapidated facade, and flowers
were laid on a windowsill outside Rimma Zhvania’s first-floor apartment.
A wooden coffin was delivered to her home Thursday. Zhvania’s body will
be moved to the capital’s Holy Trinity Cathedral for public viewing
Saturday before Sunday’s funeral.
On Thursday, a visibly shaken Saakashvili lit candles in Zhvania’s honor
at the cathedral and urged Georgians to remain calm.
“I assume control over the executive branch and I call on members of the
Cabinet to return to work and to continue their work as normal,” said
Saakashvili, who appointed Zhvania after his election in January 2004 –
rewarding a key ally in the November 2003 protests against election
fraud that became known as the “Rose Revolution.”
Zhvania was considered a moderate in the government of the fiery
Saakashvili, and worked to overcome endemic corruption that had enriched
some officials during the era of ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze while
the economy deteriorated.
Many people rely on gas or wood stoves in their homes in Georgia, where
central heating is scarce, and fatal leaks and accidents are common. But
several Tbilisi residents said they believed the prime minister’s death
was suspicious.
“There were plenty of people who envied Zurab. Many were hoping that a
conflict would break out between him and the president,” said historian
Grigory Dardzhanian.
Georgian lawmaker Alexander Shalamberidze linked Zhvania’s death to a
car bombing that killed three policemen in Gori, the city nearest to
South Ossetia, this week. Shalamberidze pointed at “outside forces” in
remarks clearly aimed at Russia, which has ties with the separatist
Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Zhvania was a key figure in efforts to resolve the conflicts with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which broke away from the central government
after wars in the 1990s. Saakashvili has vowed to reunite his fractured
country, but tension is high and erupted into deadly fighting in South
Ossetia last summer.
Zhvania “counterbalanced Saakashvili’s policies,” said Georgy
Gelashvili, a former colleague of Zhvania in the Greens party. “I’m
afraid that the people close to the president who didn’t much like
Zhvania may push (Saakashvili) toward extreme measures in settling
conflicts and in the economy.”
A minister in South Ossetia’s separatist government, Boris Chochiyev,
said Zhvania was “among the Georgian politicians who favored a peaceful
settlement of the conflict” and expressed hope that his death would not
aggravate tensions.
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