“Levan Gachechiladze met with people in Avlabari”

Akhali Taoba reports that the opposition coalition’s presidential candidate, Levan Gachechiladze, met with people in the Isani-Samgori district of Tbilisi on December 10.

About 200 people gathered for the campaign event, the newspaper estimates.

Attendees questioned the candidate on his positions, asking mostly about social issues.

“If I win, I will solve everything,” Gachechiladze promised. “I will never deceive you.”



“Five library buildings in Tbilisi to be renovated soon”

Five libraries throughout Tbilisi will be renovated soon, Rezonansi writes, while others will be shut down.

Mamuka Katsarava, head of the department of social services and culture at Tbilisi City Hall, said final decisions on which libraries to spare and which to shut down will be made by 2008.

“There are a total of 54 libraries in Tbilisi. City Hall intends to close some of them, as most are not operating,” Katsarava explained.

The five libraries to undergo repairs are in very bad shape, the newspaper reports. City Hall has announced a tender on repair works for the buildings.

The deadline for completing renovation is January 31, 2008. Companies bidding for the contract have until December 24 to apply.

Katsarava said the state will fully finance those libraries which are kept open next year.



“Mikheil Saakashvili promises voters he will solve social problems”

Sakartvelos Respublika reports that on December 10, incumbent presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili visited the eastern province of Kakheti to meet with voters.

He spoke about his presidential program, extending promises to solve social problems in the country.

“If I become president again, the key priority of my second term will be a Georgia without poverty!” Saakashvili declared.

While in Kakheti, he visited the regional capital of Telavi to meet with students and lecturers at the local university. He promised to increase salaries for professors, and to provide scholarships for successful students to study abroad.



“NGO Equality Institute accuses the administration”

The pro-opposition NGO Equality Institute is accusing authorities of pressuring state employees ahead of the January 5 presidential election, Rezonansi reports.

Equality Institute says people are not meeting with NGOs to discuss their stories for fear of losing their jobs.

“Government officials confiscated the IDs of state employees, as they want to use them to rig the presidential election,” NGO representatives claimed at a meeting with Kutaisi State University lecturers on December 10.



“Sandra Roelofs gave an interview to a foreign TV channel”

Akhali Taoba wrote an account of Sandra Roelofs’ extended interview with a Dutch TV network.

Roelofs is the wife of incumbent presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili. She said that it is vitally important for Georgia that her husband be reelected.

“If my husband is not elected, Georgia will be doomed,” Roelofs reportedly said, adding that Georgia’s democracy is young, but that large strides forward have been made in the last three to four years.

Roelofs said she was optimistic about Saakashvili’s chances for reelection.

“When my husband announced the early presidential elections, this was the right move, and he did this for the people. Our electoral slogan is, ‘Let us to finish the work we started!’ and on January 5 the people will decide whether or not to give us this chance,” she said.