Shocked Georgians Mourn Prime Minister

Associated Press
Friday, February 4, 2005

BY JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer

TBILISI, Georgia – Hundreds of shocked Georgians gathered Friday in the
snow in central Tbilisi to mourn Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, whose
death has left the struggling former Soviet republic worried for its future.

Zhvania was found dead early Thursday in a friend’s apartment,
apparently the victim of carbon monoxide poisoning from a poorly
installed gas heater. The friend, a regional politician, also died.

The 41-year-old Zhvania was a key figure in attempts to lift the country
out of its post-Soviet economic collapse and political turmoil.

Zhvania was one of the leaders of the 2003 “Rose Revolution” protests
that propelled President Mikhail Saakashvili to power and brought down
his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze.

Zhvania earned deep respect and affection and was seen as a moderating
balance to the sometimes-incendiary boldness of Saakashvili, who was
elected president in 2004.

“Soon all of Georgia will feel what Zurab Zhvania meant for them,” said
mourner Ksenia Kuparadze, a 70-year-old pensioner outside the apartment
of Zhvania’s grieving mother, where the body was brought late Thursday.

“After the Rose Revolution, when the country was in complete collapse,
he was able to get us out of economic difficulties. Teachers started
getting paid on time, pensioners got their pensions,” Kuparadze said.

Shevardnadze, whom Zhvania helped force out of office, also praised the
late prime minister’s achievements. “I hope the course chosen by him
will be preserved,” he said.

Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze cut short a foreign trip and
returned to Tbilisi on Friday, calling on the government to “continue to
work in its usual rhythm” despite “a big loss for Georgian politics and
the Georgian state.”

That call, alongside Saakashvili’s statement a day earlier that the
country’s government was in control, appeared to hint at wide anxiety
that Zhvania’s death could undermine the stability that has been tenuous
at best in Georgia since its independence in 1991.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Georgia was riven by two
separatist wars that left large regions de facto independent and
courting ties with Russia. Zhvania was a key figure in trying to
negotiate final agreements on those still-unresolved tensions, which had
been exacerbated by Saakashvili’s provocative pledges to re-exert
control over the regions – South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Zhvania also pushed for efforts to wipe out the corruption that had
sapped Georgia’s economy and induced widespread mistrust of authority.
One notable move was a restructuring of the country’s police force,
which was infamous for bribe-taking.

“It will be difficult to be president without Zhvania. In my opinion, he
played the role of a careful and kind magistrate,” said Dzhudzhuna
Kartvelishvili, a 43-year-old scholar. “It will be difficult but I think
we will be able to find people who will be that much useful to the country.”

Authorities called Zhvania’s death an accident, another of the many
carbon-monoxide poisonings that have troubled the capital since its
central-heating system went out of service in 1992 and many residents
turned to wood and gas stoves to keep warm.

In a country with a history of political intrigue and violence, many
Georgians wondered whether authorities were telling them the truth.

“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.

Parliament member Elena Tevdoradze, who visited Zhvania’s mother, Rima,
on Friday, said the woman asked her, “What do you think, did they kill
my son?”

Georgian lawmaker Alexander Shalamberidze linked Zhvania’s death to a
car bombing that killed three policemen in Gori, the city nearest to
South Ossetia, earlier this week. Shalamberidze pointed the finger at
“outside forces” in remarks clearly aimed at Russia.

Deadly fighting ripped through South Ossetia last summer, after local
separatists took offense at Saakashvili’s vows to bring the province
back under Tbilisi’s control. Zhvania in recent months was pursuing a
negotiated solution.

It was unclear when a new prime minister would be named, but topping the
speculation of likely candidates was Defense Minister Irkaly
Okruashvili, a strong personality like Saakashvili.

Zhvania’s funeral was scheduled for Sunday.

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