Translated material
Return of the Hawk
Okruashvili will be in opposition
One of the most odious politicians of modern Georgia, 33-year-old Irakli Okruashvili, will present his own party and the parliamentary faction supporting it by the end of September. To create a faction in the 235-seat Georgian parliament, he will need to unite ten deputies. Irakli Okruashvili himself refrains from commenting, but Georgian journalists have already found out the address of his party’s office on the Gamsakhurdia embankment. The new party does not yet have an official name.According to independent deputy Georgiy Tsulai, the faction of “okruashvili residents” will consist of both majoritarians and deputies who received mandates from party lists. Including at least three from the majority faction, the core of which is the ruling United National Movement. This circumstance caused sharp discontent among the leaders of the pro-presidential majority, who advised the defectors “not to try to sit on two chairs.”
Okruashvili held the posts of Prosecutor General after the Rose Revolution of 2003, and headed the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Defense and Economic Development. He gained a reputation as an uncompromising fighter against corruption and a supporter of tough policies towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as towards Russia - just remember his words that even “feces” can be sold on the Russian wine market. “Hawk” Okruashvili left the government in November 2006 under the pretext of military-political studies.
In the spring of this year, the first reports appeared about Irakli Okruashvili’s plans to return to big politics. Immediately, information leaked to the media about the transfer by the Georgian Control Chamber to the Prosecutor General's Office of the materials of the inspection of the Ministry of Defense for 2005-2006, when Okruashvili was its head. We are talking about the misuse of approximately $150 million, spent on expensive cars and renovations to the offices of military officials. The appearance of this “compromising evidence” is due to the fact that Okruashvili retained a high rating even after his resignation. The politician has a good chance of winning over those who are disappointed in the current leadership of Georgia.
Okruashvili's party is being created for the parliamentary elections that will take place at the end of 2008. On the same day, which has not yet been determined, the presidential elections will take place. It is unclear whether Okruashvili will be able to participate in them: he will turn 35 only in November next year, and before this age you cannot run for the post of head of Georgia.
In an interview with Vremya Novostei, the leader of the opposition Georgian Democratic Front, deputy David Zurabishvili, expressed confidence that the return of Irakli Okruashvili would in any case stir up the internal political life in the country: “He will be in the opposition, he has a high rating, and some may unite around him opponents of the current authorities." As for the negative reaction of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali to the second coming of the “hawk,” David Zurabishvili believes that “there will never be a government in Georgia that the separatists will like.”