Translated material
First call
The new head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry is going to Moscow
Yesterday, the Georgian parliament unanimously approved the new government formed after the presidential elections. The cabinet must implement Mikheil Saakashvili’s election promise for the next five years: “United Georgia without poverty.” The post of prime minister was retained by 37-year-old Vladimir Gurgenidze; until November last year he was a successful banker. After mass protests in the fall of 2007, Saakashvili decided to renew the team; then-Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli was the first to lose his position.There have been changes this time too. The head of the Ministry of Economy, Georgiy Arveladze, has resigned and is planning to go into business. Former Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili will head the foreign intelligence department reporting directly to Saakashvili. State Minister for Reforms Kakha Bendukidze will head the government office. Prosecutor General Zurab Adeishvili has left his post and will probably head the presidential administration. “We will work efficiently and efficiently,” Mr. Gurgenidze promised yesterday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headed by David Bakradze, who previously served as Minister of State for Conflict Resolution. He said that he had received the prime minister's instructions to call his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to arrange a visit to Moscow. Mr. Bakradze added that this would be his first official foreign call. Yesterday, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported that the conversation took place and “the parties expressed their readiness to deepen the dialogue and carry out practical measures necessary for the implementation of the agreements reached between Georgia and Russia.”
The new state minister for reintegration (previously it was the post of state minister for conflict resolution) was the famous political scientist Temuri Yakobashvili. He stated that it is unreasonable to talk about the “expulsion” of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but it is necessary to ensure that the “blue helmets” fully fulfill their mandate.
The parliamentary opposition boycotted the government's approval, believing that cosmetic changes would not yield results. In the Democratic Front faction, Vremya Novostey called the decision to retain the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Defense in their posts as “cynicism”. The opposition cannot forgive them for the brutal dispersal of protests on November 7 last year. The opposition expects to win the spring parliamentary elections and re-form the cabinet.