Friday, October 19, 2007, #200 (1467)

Week in Brief

Arrested ex-minister Irakli Okruashvili quit politics, his erstwhile opposition colleagues said. They vowed to continue the political campaign he began.

Preliminary findings of a UNOMIG investigation into the deadly September 20 clash near Upper Abkhazia contradicted Tbilisi’s version of events. The killing of two former Russian officers and the capture of seven Abkhaz under their command took place where secessionist authorities said they did, a progress report stated, 300 meters into Abkhaz-controlled territory. The UN team also said the two killed officers were shot at close or point-blank range.

President Mikheil Saakashvili pitched a package of electoral reforms which would decrease the vote threshold for parliamentary representation, limit his control on parliament and make parliamentary and presidential elections coincide. Opposition politicians were unimpressed.

Embattled business tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili suggested he may enter politics, putting in an unusual number of public appearances and releasing a statement detailing his political visions.
The United National Council, a loose coalition of ten political opposition groups, delivered a manifesto to the president and the parliamentary speaker. They demand authorities move up parliamentary elections to April 2008, recreate election oversight boards to include political party representatives, overhaul the plurality voting used to elect a portion of MPs in favor of proportional representation and release all “political prisoners.”
The UN Security Council resolution on Abkhazia met with approbation from all parties. Tbilisi was particularly pleased with an emphasis on the property rights of Georgian refugees who fled the conflict, leaving behind home and possessions.
Authorities detained the brother of businessman Kibar Khalvashi, a close associate of former defense minister Irakli Okruashvili. Khalvashi, once the owner of Rustavi 2, is wanted for questioning on an alleged graft scheme involving Okruashvili.
Against an opposition boycott, parliament approved Levan Tarkhnishvili as head of the Central Election Committee. Tarkhnishvili previously chaired the Board of the Georgian Public Broadcaster. Opposition politicians say he is far too chummy with the ruling National Movement party to act as elections chief.

Parliament begun discussing the 2008 state budget; the current proposal chalks up expenditures at GEL 3.8 billion, with a projected income of GEL 4.6 billion. Like last year, defense spending takes priority.

Producers dismissed a contestant from a reality television show after he announced that he is gay. It is the first highly visible on-air declaration of homosexuality in Georgia, where gay men are frequent targets of harassment and concern for their ‘disease.’



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