“Zurab Tkemaladze: Mikheil Saakashvili has very little chance of winning the presidential election!”

Akhali Taoba writes that oppositional Industrialists MP Zurab Tkemaladze insists presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili, who stepped down on Sunday to run or reelection, has very little chance of winning a second term on January 5.

“Most Georgians are unhappy with the current administration and with what’s going on in the country,” Tkemaladze said.

A lot depends on the opposition’s election campaign, he said.

“The opposition’s speeches and promises should be strong and trustworthy,” the MP emphasized.

The Industrialists are backing New Rights leader Davit Gamkrelidze in the January 5 election.



“Vice-Speaker Jemal Inaishvili to step down as an MP”

Parliamentary Vice-Speaker Jemal Inaishvili, a majoritarian MP from Batumi, will not run for reelection in the 2008 parliamentary elections, according to Mteli Kvira.

Inaishvili says he will return to business after stepping down as an MP.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for me to be in every parliament elected,” he explained. “I’ve decided to resign and return to the business from which I came.”

He also has many hobbies he’d like to pursue, the newspaper writes.

“Parliament, hobbies and business cannot get on well together,” he added.

Inaishvili is also the chair of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Before his election to parliament, Inaishvili was the general manager of the Poti seaport.



“Bagapsh calls Gali residents to boycott Georgian presidential elections”

Akhali Taoba reports that de facto Abkhaz president Sergey Bagapsh is urging residents of Abkhazia’s Gali district, which is mostly ethnic Georgian, not to vote in the Georgian presidential elections on January 5.

“The Georgian administration is attempting to use Gali residents for their political purposes. But we are sure that the region’s residents will not let them to do this,” Bagapsh said.

According to the separatist leader, they will soon be distributing Abkhaz passports to Gali residents.



“Three years have passed since the murder of Amiran Robakidze”

Sakartvelos Respublika writes on the third anniversary of the killing of 19-year-old Amiran Robakidze. He was shot dead by a police officer on November 23, 2004 in Tbilisi.

The police office shot Robakidze, who was unarmed, twice, claiming he was trying to capture armed criminals. The police officer later admitted to accidentally shooting Robakidze. While that police officer was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, Robakidze’s family claims the real killers are still free.

The case garnered significant media attention, turning it into a political cause. On the anniversary of Robakidze’s death, family members were joined by opposition politicians in remembering the young man.