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Compiled by Liana Bezhanishvili
Friday, February 5
Soso Tsiskarishvili: The opposition should stop being obsessed with dates

In an interview with Akhali Taoba Soso Tsiskarishvili has stated: "I have asked the opposition, to ignore the calendar and stop exploiting particular dates. It is not necessary to protest on particular days. Protest must be expressed when people are ready to do this, so they must not be planned 3 months beforehand. Unfortunately this bad practice does not help create a stronger protest.

We have already seen that this mania for dates gets us nowhere. In my opinion the apologists for this practice simply show that they are not themselves. If we follow their reasoning we can appoint people right now to lead protest actions on 9 April in 2011, 2012 and so on, without knowing exactly what they will be protesting about on those dates. Protests must be held when the public has a specific reason and desire to protest,” stated Soso Tsiskarishvili.

Asked about Russian statements that Georgian opposition leaders have been invited to Moscow and wish to go, Tsiskarishvili said, "Russia is trying to present itself in a good light to the West, but of course these invitations are cynical. The Russian Government has an absolutely different conception of Georgia as a State. When Russia talks about Georgia starting talks without preconditions it sets its own precondition that Georgia must accept two new states on its territory. If someone wants to follow Moscow's lead that is their business, but they have no right to speak in the name of the whole of Georgia," Tsiskarishvili said.



Russian analysts demand reforms and changes of policy

Rezonansi reports that the Modern Institute in Moscow launched a report entitled 21 Century Russia. This document contains Russian political scientists' and analysts' views of how they see Russia’s future. The conclusion of this 65 page report has been already sent to Dmitry Medvedev, who will read it and then make a statement.

The authors of the report say that President Medvedev must improve relations with the USA and Georgia must rejoin the CIS. "This Institute's recommendations are taken very seriously. Maybe Dmitry Medvedev wants to change things in Russia but Vladimir Putin will not allow it. Let’s us see how the situation changes, as if it follows Putin's plan Russia will disappear from the map,” Georgian analyst Zurab Abashidze has stated.



Konstantine Gamsakhurdia claims Investigation Commission

Akhali Taoba writes that Parliament set up the Temporary Investigation Commission into President Zviad Gamsakhurdia's death on October 6. Its term will be extended for three more months. But it is up to Parliament to give it full Investigation Commission status. From the very beginning several Deputies have demanded this. Chairman of the Commission Konstantine Gamsakhurdia says that documents obtained from the Public Prosecutor’s Office should be thoroughly studied and people in Samegrelo who acted on the instructions of law enforcement structures should be interrogated.

"In my opinion, as one who knew him well, Zviad Gamsakhurdia was murdered. But I do not exclude anything. Those four persons had been living in the forest for the two months. They had had to cross rivers in winter and might have been psychologically shaken. I cannot exclude anything for that reason, but in any other circumstances Zviad Gamsakhurdia would never have committed suicide," Tengiz Sigua states in an interview with the paper published under the headline Tengiz Sigua: Zviad Gamsakhurdia was murdered!’

"A forensic examination could have been made, but Gamsakhurdia's wife and family categorically refused, and transported the body from Zugdidi to Grozny. Moreover, a commission had been formed which, in my opinion, should not have given up its work. An examination should have been conducted; had this been done, this issue would not be on the agenda any longer," Sigua says.

Asked about Giorgadze's statements which directly implicate Eduard Shevardnadze in the death of the first President, Sigua says: "Giorgadze has said previously in the Russian media that Shevardnadze instructed him to kill Zviad Gamsakhurdia but he refused. This was not his first statement on the matter, but it lacks detail. There is another issue; when Zviad Gamsakhurdia returned from Grozny in September 1993 it was reported, and has been confirmed by Shevardnadze, that President Yeltsin rang Shevardnadze and said "Is it not time to divide Georgia? You will sit in Tbilisi and Gamsakhurdia in Kutaisi." That call may have been the reason Zviad Gamsakhurdia was murdered."