Georgian president urges better ties with Russia in 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. He
said, however, that “compromise is a two-way street” and that the two
countries should meet each other halfway. He described relations with
Georgia’s other immediate neighbours, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey,
as “ideal and idyllic” and again welcomed the election of Georgia’s
“friend” Viktor Yushchenko as Ukrainian president. Most of the
50-minute address was devoted to the government’s “achievements”
over the past 12 months. Saakashvili said that in that period a
“demoralized” country had been transformed into “a functioning state
with powerful institutions”. He also acknowledged the existence
of problems such as insufficient new jobs, low salaries in the
education sector and the need to reform the judiciary. The following
is an excerpt from Saakashvili’s address on 10 September, which was
broadcast live by Rustavi-2 TV; subheadings inserted editorially:
[Saakashvili] Madam Speaker, Your Holiness, esteemed chairman of the
Constitutional Court, chairman of the Supreme Court, esteemed members
of parliament and the public. Before I commence my speech, I would
like to say that much has been said about the late Zurab Zhvania in
recent days and I do not want to repeat anything. I simply want to
mention that the late Zurab Zhvania’s mother Rema and wife Nino are
attending this session today. I want us all to greet them as well as
[Zhvania’s children] little Liza, Busa and Anna. [Applause]
Please, take your seats.
Achievements
More than a year has passed since Georgia made its choice for
freedom and since the Georgian nation decided on the country’s new
orientation and embarked on a new, complex and ambitious road towards
regaining the motherland that had been lost and taken away from us. A
little more than a year has passed since I was sworn in as Georgia’s
president. Shortly afterwards this parliament was elected. I, as
a member of several previous parliaments, can say with confidence
that this is the best parliament to meet in this hall. Before we
begin discussing our present and future and before we talk about our
achievements and plans, I suggest we recall what Georgia was like a
year ago.
Georgia was a failed state – disintegrated, demoralized and
humiliated. It was a country that had lost all attributes of statehood;
a country where corruption, lawlessness and injustice reigned supreme;
a country where ordinary citizens were routinely cheated by the state;
a country where the state and its representatives were constantly
extorting money from ordinary citizens; a country that had no budget
and that never fulfilled social pledges to its citizens; a country
where human rights were blatantly violated; a country that had no
defence capabilities, not a single working tank or enough ammunition
to last for just an hour in battle. The army had been starving for
months. It was a country that had already disintegrated and fallen
into the hands of clans, feudal lords and fiefs.
We are now used to seeing in this hall the chairman of Ajaria’s
government and Ajaria’s other leaders. However, a year ago Ajaria
was ruled by a separatist feudal lord who, as a matter of principle,
refused to come to Tbilisi and the Georgian president had to pay
him visits and beg him to comply in a most humiliating way. It was a
country that had lost its international reputation and no-one anywhere
respected it; a country which was devoid of national ideals and which
had lost its direction and sense of purpose; a country that was losing
its most respectable sons and daughters every day and whose people
had completely lost a sense of unity; a country where citizens mainly
dreamt of escaping as quickly as possible and finding refuge abroad.
That is how we see it now and what the Georgian people has achieved
in a year, which is a negligible period in history.
This is certainly not the right time for self-congratulation. We have
no right to discuss or to be content with our achievements. Last year
was only a beginning. However, it is important to ask this question:
how much ground have we covered this year? Today Georgia is a proper
state. When people ask us about our main achievement, we say that
our main achievement is that for the first time in modern history,
Georgia has become a proper state.
The past year has witnessed budgetary successes, a tripling of
the budget, better revenue collection, the curbing of contraband,
introduction of a new tax code, successful work with all international
organizations. In that respect, Georgia is a model country where every
programme is working in a model way. Financial amnesty. These success
stories are important, however what they mean to our daily lives is
even more important. It means that we have managed to clear pension
and wage arrears accumulated over a decade. It means that we have kept
our promise and doubled pensions. Wages and pensions are being paid
without delay and we are all used to it now. It means that for the
first time in our country’s history government employees manage to
live on their salaries. That has become possible, so the main motive
for taking bribes has disappeared. It means social pledges that have
been fulfilled and increased wages in various sectors.
[Passage omitted]
Privatization
I would like to talk about our economic plans. We have begun the
privatization process and we must understand what it is for. It does
not mean, as is often presented, that we used to have property and
now we have none left. On the contrary, we have property that needs
investing in. This is not like the privatization that took place
before, like the so-called privatization programmes where people
would get facilities for free in return for investing 20m 20 years
later. No way, invest now so that you have a return on this investment,
so that you create jobs, so that enterprises start working and so
that we get some money out of this.
This is a favourable position to be in, especially for four major
sectors. This includes the energy sector. We have to improve power
supply by next winter, which at present is the biggest failure of
our government. Tbilisi and Batumi are supplied with electricity 24
hours a day, but in the rest of Georgia there are problems almost
everywhere. This is where investments have to be made and this is
what we need the money for.
In health care, we urgently need money to build new hospitals, because
we are losing our medicine, which is effectively is on the verge of
ruin. In education, we are building new schools. There will be a new
school of administration in Kutaisi where representatives of national
minorities will also study. It is very important that this school is
properly funded and that the funding of our universities and scholars
is also increased.
As regards defence capabilities, the country should no longer be
a pushover. All of this costs money and this money is not going to
come easily. Georgia has no oil, Georgia’s main asset is its people
and this asset should start working, people should start working in
enterprises and these enterprises should have real owners. This is
what privatization is about.
[Passage omitted]
Challenges, future reforms
Those were our achievements in the past year, and I am sure that this
is only a beginning. But I am asking this question: is it enough? Of
course not, we should not be content with it. Of course our main
goals are yet to be achieved. We are still facing major challenges.
We have managed to double pensions and establish order in the payment
of salaries. However – I know this very well and I always remember this
– we have not been able to increase salaries for teachers and other
education professionals, but we will certainly do it this year. We have
eradicated corruption and lawlessness in the energy sector, but, as you
know and as I have told you, this still remains a very serious problem
in some regions, especially in Samegrelo and Imereti. We have carried
out structural reorganization of the public sector, we have reduced
bureaucracy and streamlined the public sector. But we also had to make
job cuts, which was inevitable. No-one should have illusions about it.
Unfortunately, we have been unable to create a sufficient number
of new jobs in the private sector, and that is a very painful issue
for us. Georgia has managed to overcome a crisis when it seemed that
we were doomed to fail, but we have not been able to transform our
country into a European-type economy.
So what are our tasks now? Above all, it is new jobs. This cannot
be achieved through mechanical growth. We should develop spheres
which can create more jobs: tourism, tourism infrastructure, service
industries, processing of agricultural produce and penetration of
new markets. We should facilitate business initiatives not only
in Tbilisi but, especially, in other parts of Georgia. We should
develop infrastructure in order to develop business. But only the
state can invest in infrastructure projects like roads, bridges and
water supply systems. We should tackle the energy crisis. No matter
how much more electricity we produce, demand will continue to rise
as the economy grows.
We should complete education reforms. That is very important, we cannot
retreat here, and we will not give in to any blackmail, because that
is something our children, grandchildren and their grandchildren
will benefit from. That is something which will, in the long term,
transform Georgia into a truly developed country.
We should carry out reforms of the judiciary. When we started these
reforms, they were based on correct principles, but a dry place cannot
exist in the middle of a swamp. That reform was not followed by reforms
in the police and prosecutor’s office and, in reality, courts have
been discredited. I support the efforts by the parliament’s legal
committee. We will be unable to work miracles here, but we should
achieve real independence for the courts. This independence is not what
some judges think it is. This is not independence from conscience,
law and justice. This is independence from pressure, but it also
means an enormous responsibility to the public, rather than to the
authorities. Unfortunately, currently there is no such feeling of
responsibility in 90 per cent of the judiciary. This problem needs
serious attention if we want to achieve anything. I am grateful to
[Supreme Court Chairman] Mr Kote Kemularia who has started serious
processes. He will probably do more in his new position [as justice
minister]. He will also be chairman of the Council of Justice.
As regards local government reform, unlike my predecessor, I admit
that I am not good enough – and nobody is, not even some reincarnated
genius – to fill all local government jobs from the centre. That
is impossible, and whoever tried it has failed. Of course, at local
government level, district administrators and all mayors in Georgia
should be elected through an appropriate voting system. This should
be implemented next year, and we should pass appropriate legislation
this year.
I am grateful to Mr Vano Khukhunaishvili’s [parliamentary] committee
which has done a lot in this regard. I am grateful to Mr Ivliane
Khaindrava [MP] who has submitted very interesting proposals
about creating regional legislative bodies that would keep tabs
on the activities of appointed governors. We should implement the
subsidiarity principle in Georgia by taking into account all these
proposals and initiatives.
As regards the reduction of the number of parliament deputies to 150,
I discussed this issue with various parliamentary groups yesterday
and I am very grateful to all groups who supported this idea. This
is a test for Georgian parliamentarianism and the Georgian political
spectrum. Some 2.3m people said [in a 2003 referendum] that the
number of parliament deputies should not exceed 150. Anyone who
rejects this will be simply spitting in the face of 2.3m people.
We must understand this. In a normal, democratic country people would
never forgive that. Of course, this should be a balanced reduction,
of course there should remain at least 50 deputies from single-seat
constituencies, and of course the system of proportional representation
[party lists] should also be retained.
We should also think about establishing an upper house as it is in
other democratic countries. Work on this model is under way. Parliament
is based on the principle of checks and balances. Of course, we should
do it. This will be our main test which will reveal if this parliament
has again become a corporate parliament or it has developed into a
truly popular body which always listens to voters, a parliament which
always thinks how to interact with voters, rather than thinks that,
once elected, it can rest assured for four years.
I really admire our parliament. This is the first parliament which has
set a major record – for a year deputies have not beaten each other
up. That is an amazing achievement of Georgian democracy. [Passage
omitted]
Foreign relations
Now, as regards our foreign policy, you will have noticed that
Georgia has become a completely different country, a country that
is particularly attractive to the rest of the world. I know of few
countries in the world that attract such interest. I do not think
that what I have just said is an exaggeration.
This interest is justified not because Georgia’s leader has
destroyed something somewhere [reference to former President Eduard
Shevardnadze’s role in the fall of the Berlin Wall]. That is not a
good advertisement for Georgia, even if you have destroyed something
that was worth destroying.
This interest does not arise solely because we are some kind of
corridor [reference to President Shevardnadze’s Eurasian transit
corridor project]. However good the corridor, it is still not nice
when you are merely a corridor.
The reason for this interest is not that we have performed some miracle
here and that strange things keep happening here, so the entire world
is ready to support us as long as we calm down.
No, we are indeed an interesting country. Heads of several leading
committees in the Russian Duma, when asked about last year’s
highlights, named Georgian reforms. That is despite the fact that
throughout the year they were being shown films such as “Misha”
[profile of Saakashvili shown on Russian NTV last October] and others
portraying Georgia in the most terrible light. Nevertheless, they
have said that Georgia is a most successful country.
You have seen what happened in friendly Ukraine. Another country has
emerged on former Soviet territory which has a similar government
based on similar principles. Therefore, being a genuinely democratic
country, it is Georgia’s true friend. That is the elected government
of our friend [President] Viktor Yushchenko and [Prime Minister]
Yuliya Tymoshenko.
With our closest neighbours, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, we
have idyllic relations, ideal and idyllic. We should cherish these
relations.
Naturally, with our other neighbour, Russia, there were problems but
we should certainly overcome these problems. However, compromise is a
two-way street, rather than Chiaberashvili’s triangle in the centre of
Tbilisi [reference to a controversial one-way traffic system introduced
recently by Tbilisi mayor Zurab Chiaberashvili]. When we take steps,
so should the other party. When we compromise, so should the other
party. On these terms, we are ready to reach agreement.
I am ready to go to Moscow again. I am ready to meet President Putin
again. I am ready to extend our hand of friendship again, which,
despite the fact that Georgian society welcomed this a year ago,
has remained in the air.
We should also understand and we should agree – [changes thought]
By the way, I really liked [opposition Conservative Party MP] Koba
Davitashvili’s statement two days ago. There are many things Koba does
that I do not like at all. However, this was the right thing to do. He
said that there are certain principles which all political parties
should accept. No political party or person can overstep this mark.
We should all decide and agree on what these principles are. They
are Georgia’s European orientation, the principle that there should
be no foreign bases on Georgian territory, the principle that any
party announcing that Georgia does not need a European orientation,
will not integrate into international organizations we are trying
to join, that we need foreign bases and foreigners should interfere
in Georgia’s development by military or some other illegal means –
any such party should automatically be declared outside the law.
This kind of party won parliamentary elections in Lithuania. It was
almost certain to form a parliamentary majority. However, all other
parties, which had always been fighting each other, decided to unite
and say: let us put everything aside because Lithuanian independence
is the most important thing now. They managed to form a parliamentary
majority and stopped that party coming to power, a party which had
spent hundreds of millions of dollars that had come from abroad to
seize power in that country by democratic means. We should learn to
operate in this way if we want our independence to survive.
Ethnic minorities
At the same time, we should learn to cooperate in a different way with
the various ethnic groups. Not only should they respect the Georgian
state, [ethnic] Azerbaijanis who are being taught Georgian should
not question the benefits of learning Georgian. They should know
that, once they have become part of the Georgian state, they will
be appointed to senior posts, they will have proper salaries, and
their rights will be exactly the same as those of all other citizens
of Georgia. In that case, not only will they learn the language and
not only will they not run away anywhere, but they will also serve in
the Georgian army, be ready to spill blood to defend Georgia and be
an inalienable and incorruptible part of the Georgian state organism.
We have destroyed many myths. For example, I have visited Akhalkalaki
[mainly ethnic Armenian populated town in southern Georgia]. For many
years there was talk that it was dangerous even to go to Akhalkalaki,
let alone walk in the streets and speak to local people. In fact, it is
a part of Georgia like any other, a place where people love our flag,
anthem and statehood, just as they do in the rest of Georgia. They
were offended by claims to the contrary that had been made for so
many years.
When we talk about our [ethnic] Azerbaijanis, we must understand
that they are our people. When there was some trouble there in 1991,
villagers did not bring their produce to our markets for two days,
so a famine started in Tbilisi. These people have successfully worked
in the fields of culture and science for decades and centuries and
they are an inalienable part of Georgian society.
That is why we are setting up a school of administration to train
these people and select the best among them. They will then serve
in customs and tax services and in parliament as both officials
and MPs. Some of them are already MPs but there should be more of
them. They should work at ministries.
There are very many interesting people. There is one person I wanted
to be here today. His name is Alik Kozaev. He is a young man, an
NGO activist from Tskhinvali. Last summer he helped more than 800
children from Tskhinvali, Java, Kvaisa, Znauri District and other
places in the Tskhinvali region to come here. He was taking risks
and he was doing it without receiving any remuneration. He was doing
it in order to destroy the wall of mistrust and hatred that exists
between Georgia and the Ossetians living there and replace it with
a bridge of friendship and brotherhood.
The price this man had to pay is that for many months now he
has been in prison in Tskhinvali, on the territory of Georgia. We
should be ashamed of the fact that this is still possible today. The
international community should also be ashamed that it is keeping
quiet about it and pretends that these are merely small aspects of
an ordinary conflict. If we turn a blind a eye to this, then we will
certainly turn a blind eye to an even bigger tragedy in the future. I
would like to ask you to stand up, applaud Alik Kozaev and demand
his release. [Applause, everybody rises]
What have we learnt in the past year? We have learnt that Georgia can
be a functioning state with powerful institutions. We have learnt that
our nation draws its strength from its unique historical experience
and the fact that it consists of many ethnic groups. There are so many
different people here, which is our strength. We draw our strength
from our great culture of tolerance and from our unity. We have learnt
that unity is our strength. By the way, we were taught this best by
Davit Aghmashenebeli [medieval Georgian king]. The main lesson we
have learnt about when Georgia was strong is that it happened when
Georgia belonged to all its sons and daughters at the same time, when
the authorities recognized everyone, considered everyone’s interests
and respected every religion.
Orthodox Church
Naturally, I confirm that the Orthodox religion has always played a
special role in Georgia. Any attempts – I do not want to beat about
the bush here – to undermine the unity of the Georgian Orthodox Church,
any attacks on the Georgian patriarch, are in fact totally unacceptable
political steps. There are certain rules of the game in politics. We
should not overstep this mark. It is wrong to score political points
by starting intrigues within the church. The unity of our church and
its special role at the most crucial times in our history, when on 22
November 2003 the chair in which His Holiness is sitting now was empty
[reference to the patriarch not arriving for the opening session of
parliament] – [changes tack] This was not participation in politics. It
was an act of civil heroism through nonparticipation. [Applause]
[Passage omitted]
Government
We have learnt that the country can be both democratic and stable. We
have learnt that we can have an honest, decent government that
is trusted by the people. We may not like the government – there
are many aspects of its work I am unhappy about – however, everyone
acknowledges that this is a clean government, the cleanest government
on the territory of the former Soviet Union.
This government has replaced real dinosaurs. The majority of them have
now spent some time in appropriate places and, just as we promised
the people, have paid back some of the money they stole. However,
there are still some people who have again become candidates [for
imprisonment] and we are building separate facilities for them.
Completely different people have arrived, which is something that
should be especially appreciated. We have nominated Zurab Noghaideli
as prime minister. There is just one reason why I have nominated
Zurab Noghaideli. If there is one area in which we can claim success,
it would be the timely payment of salaries and pensions and increased
revenues. This has been achieved by the Finance Ministry. When a person
works so well, he should be promoted. This is a simple principle in
proper politics and a matter of fairness.
The government is also getting stronger because the chairman
of the Supreme Court [Kote Kemularia] is now becoming deputy
prime minister and minister of justice. The Ministry of Justice
is very important. Almost all the ministers will remain in their
posts. Naturally, there are some changes. Naturally, there will be
frequent reshuffles. All the past reshuffles have proved successful.
[Irakli] Okruashvili is the best defence minister we have ever
had. [Giorgi] Baramidze was a better interior minister than his
predecessors. Then, an even better interior minister, Okruashvili,
replaced him. Then, Okruashvili was replaced by an even better
interior minister, [Vano] Merabishvili. Okruashvili was a good
prosecutor-general but he was replaced by an even better one, [Zurab]
Adeishvili. Every reshuffle has resulted in an improvement. That is
why we should not be afraid of this.
It is also true that our best professionals are in parliament. On the
one hand, it would be risky to drain parliament of its human resources,
but, on the other hand, there is a feeling that many of them – this is
linked to the down-sizing of parliament – should be in the executive
because that is where everyday problems are decided. Having said that,
I would like to express my gratitude to you for the work you have
carried out here. [Passage omitted]
We have created a genuinely effective government. It is thanks to the
effectiveness of the government, as demonstrated by the latest events,
that we can deal with any unexpected changes, tragedies and terrorist
acts and remain strong, so that we still stand firm on our own two
feet, so that we are not disorientated, so that we respond quickly
and appropriately. A country in our position has no other choice. We
are a country which has to reclaim the most attractive part of its
territory and which faces the strongest and most aggressive – perhaps
not the strongest but certainly the most aggressive – forces in the
world. They are resisting us. We are a country that has to carry out
titanic work, a country that, out of nowhere, has to find the strength
to solve a task that is almost impossible to solve. Without it, we will
be unable to continue with large-scale development. In order to solve
this task – [changes tack] Our main achievement is that Georgia has
learnt to be successful. We have learnt to protect this success and
we have learnt to fight to ensure a better future for our children. A
better future will be impossible without each of us working, looking
after the country and having a sense of responsibility for the future
of our country.
Good bless our motherland. Long live Georgia.