Georgian president delivers annual address to parliament

Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
10 Feb 05

President Mikheil Saakashvili has set out the challenges he sees
facing Georgia in his annual address to parliament and said that he
is ready to go to Russia to meet President Putin to improve relations
between the two countries.

Opening his speech, which was broadcast live by Rustavi-2 TV and
other major Georgian networks, Saakashvili described the state of
the country as his government found it when it came to power over
a year ago. It was, he said, “disintegrated” and “demoralized”, a
country where people had been lied to by the government, a country
where human rights were trampled on and where “not a single tank had
enough ammunition for one hour in battle”.

He went on to say that Georgia had now already become a “proper state”,
but added that the past year was just a beginning. He listed successes
such as the government clearing salary and pension arrears and raising
public sector wages.

Saakashvili paid tribute to the “real heroes” who had made this
possible. He picked out the Financial Police for their successes in
tackling smuggling despite tough opposition, protesters who stood
up to the government of deposed Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze,
the new police patrol force, which had “won the trust of the people”
and an officer who led an operation to break up a criminal gang in
the northwestern province of Svaneti.

He praised teachers who had been teaching Georgian to the country’s
ethnic minorities, the armed forces, Georgia’s first female military
instructor and reserve force volunteers, among them MPs. He also
referred to Georgia’s participation in “international antiterrorist
operations”.

Saakashvili then moved on to economic issues and said that
privatization would allow the state to make the best use of its
property. He said the revenue would be spent on capital investment
in the energy sector and education.

According to Saakashvili, “thousands” of Georgian emigres have begun
returning to the country.

Saakashvili said that a major priority for this year would be the
creation of jobs in tourism, service industries and agriculture. The
state would help this process by investing in infrastructure. Further
reforms will take place in education, the justice system and local
government. Although Georgia is not prepared to decentralize power
completely, Saakashvili said, local authority heads should be elected,
starting from next year.

The number of MPs in parliament would be reduced to 150, but the mixed
proportional and majoritarian system would be retained. Saakashvili
said he was pleased that for the first time in years MPs had not
punched each other in parliament.

Moving on to foreign policy, Saakashvili said that Georgia’s
relationships with Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey were “idyllic”. As
for Russia, problems remain but they must be resolved. He said that
compromise was a “two-way street” and that he is prepared to go
to Russia to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the
outstanding issues. Priorities would remain a European orientation
and the removal of foreign bases from Georgia.

He stressed the importance of creating an inclusive society for ethnic
minorities, guaranteeing them education and jobs.

He said that the international community should be “ashamed” that an
ethnic Ossetian man who used to organize holidays for South Ossetian
children on Georgia’s Black Sea coast remained imprisoned by the
separatist authorities.

He ended by praising the efforts of MPs and ministers, particularly
Zurab Noghaideli, who has been nominated as prime minister.

Among the honorary guests who were in parliament during Saakashvili’s
50-minute speech were late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania’s wife,
mother and three children.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress