Video clips of Mikheil Saakashvili

Why they love and why they hate the current leader of Georgia

Having put an end to the rally of thousands of united opposition in the center of Tbilisi, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili did what then-President Eduard Shevardnadze did not allow himself four years ago in relation to Saakashvili himself. After all, Shevardnadze did not bring tanks, army, or even police into the streets. Although nothing prevented him from giving orders to law enforcement agencies. The police would act legally if they dispersed an unauthorized rally in order to clear the roadway in front of parliament. And then normal, measured life would be restored in the center of Tbilisi - public transport would function, children would go to kindergartens, and schoolchildren would go to school.

After all, Saakashvili spoke about this in a special address after the police dispersed the rally with tear gas and water cannons. And Shevardnadze simply resigned four years ago. Whether he was a strong or weak leader, whether he controlled the army and police, is another question. But then the “Rose Revolution” took place, as a result of which a young and dynamic president came to power along with his equally young team.

It is simply impossible to gather rallies of tens of thousands of people. It’s not just that people from all over Georgia, leaving their families and homes, now headed in the autumn cold to the parliament building in the center of Tbilisi. They came out to voice their complaints against the current government. Gradually, the main demand of the united opposition - to hold parliamentary elections within the constitutional time frame, in April 2008, and not in the fall (according to the amendments to the constitution that the authorities wanted to make), as well as the release of all political prisoners - was replaced by a new and most important one: the protesters demanded resignation of the current president.

Perhaps the richest republic in the Soviet years is today going through, to put it mildly, not the best of times. After the collapse of the USSR, it was overwhelmed by civil wars, energy and economic crises. The country has actually lost two of its autonomies. Shevardnadze was unable to rectify the situation, and perhaps vice versa.

And what about Saakashvili? Children's and sports grounds, numerous attractions have appeared throughout the country, and asphalt has been laid on the central streets. A beautiful airport has been built in Tbilisi and meets all international standards, buildings in the center of the capital have been restored and painted (although many Tbilisians call these beautiful houses “Potemkin villages in the Georgian version”). Many hotels are being built, including five-star ones. The tourism business is gaining momentum. In Georgia you can meet a lot of foreign tourists, but there are almost no guests from Russia.

Recently, relations between the two states have left much to be desired. Russia, after numerous accusations and insults against it, introduced a kind of economic blockade against Georgia: in particular, an embargo on the supply of Georgian wines. The visa regime has been tightened. Direct flights have been cancelled. Now you can get from Moscow to Tbilisi only through Baku, Yerevan, Kharkov or Kyiv. This is an expensive pleasure, and not everyone can afford it. For example, a flight to Tbilisi via Kyiv and back will cost about $750. For Georgians who travel abroad to work (and there are hundreds of thousands of them), this is a real disaster.

Tbilisi is now beautified with numerous fountains. “But why do destitute and hungry people need fountains?” - asks the united opposition. So Russia abandoned Georgian wines, and the result is obvious. Last year there was a bad grape harvest, and no questions arose. And in this case, the peasants did not know what to do with the harvest. The state bought grapes, essentially, for pennies. At first they accepted 50 tetri (somewhere less than 20 cents or 6 rubles) per kilo, then 30, 25, and then they stopped accepting it altogether. Beautiful Kakhetian grapes were lost. These amounts, as the peasants say, do not even cover the costs of maintaining and caring for the vineyards.

Many businesses are still closed; unemployment in Georgia is almost 30%. The minimum pension is 35 lari (about $22), and the minimum salary is 115 lari. If you use electricity and gas as usual, you will have to pay at least 100 lari. Georgians say: you can’t keep up with inflation.

Prices for essential products are rising. Bread went up in price from 50 to 70 tetri. It is almost impossible for a person over 40 to find a job. People are tired of constant political scandals and revelations of high-ranking corrupt officials . So there are plenty of problems.

But one way or another, during the four years of his reign, Mikheil Saakashvili did a lot. The main thing is that he was able to bloodlessly return Adjara in a very difficult, nervous and tense situation. Let me remind you that two other self-proclaimed Georgian autonomies, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are self-proclaimed and unrecognized by the world community, still legally remain part of Georgia, but in fact they are not subordinate to Tbilisi. Peace there is maintained by Russian “blue helmets.” Saakashvili, by the way, has said more than once that his main task is to restore the territorial integrity of the country, and the ways to achieve this goal are peaceful. However, the Georgian leadership has repeatedly made other loud statements - for example: “We will celebrate the New Year in South Ossetia.” True, it was not specified how to get there. But it was clear that we could talk about some radical and even forceful measures.

Today's Georgian army is quite combat-ready and well armed. Once, in a conversation with me, the President of Georgia said that the Georgian military would be trained by American instructors. He did not rule out the possibility of Georgians studying at Russian military universities, adding that the Georgian army will be equipped with Russian military equipment and weapons. Even the Americans, Saakashvili emphasized, admit that Russian weapons, in terms of their characteristics and reliability, are most optimal for the Caucasus region.

The Georgian authorities also attach great importance to ideological work - almost all local TV channels in their music programs (and not only) show a beautifully shot music video “Gamarjoba, Abkhazeto!” (“Hello, Abkhazia!”). Such famous Georgian artists as Nani Bregvadze and Vakhtang Kikabidze sing in it. The clip is very peaceful - the song is about how people gather and go to their native Abkhazia, because about 300 thousand Georgians left it after the conflict, and now they have refugee status.

But there is another video - a militant one. Georgian commandos, making their way through forests, fields and rivers, carry a wounded soldier on a stretcher. The accompanying song contains the following words: "... Drink some water, guys... this is our water from the Psou River." And the Psou River separates Abkhazia and Russia. South Ossetia has not been forgotten either. The video dedicated to her contains the following words: “Kokoity (President of South Ossetia), fandarst!” The Ossetian word “fandarast” (“go away”, “good riddance”), by the way, is not very euphonious not only for the Russian, but also for the Georgian ear.

But the Georgian authorities will apparently have to wait a while before resolving territorial problems. There is no time for this now - a state of emergency has been introduced in the country by presidential decree. And early presidential elections are scheduled for January. By the way, army units used to maintain a state of emergency can, if necessary, show their training. In any case, the Georgian police and special forces, following the order, did not lose face: after the rally was dispersed, almost half a thousand of its participants, beaten, gassed and injured by rubber bullets, turned to doctors for help.

Nikolay MAMULASHVILI, political commentator for Radio Russia, -- for Vremya Novostey, Tbilisi-Moscow