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Saakashvili’s portraits on walls kindergartens

Kviris Palitra reports that opposition politician Kakha Kukava has voiced his astonishment that in the kindergarten where his daughter is enrolled, a portrait of President Mikheil Saakashvili is hanging.

A Kviris Palitra reporter visited the kindergarten on Abashidze Street in Tbilisi's Vake district, where a portrait of the President and the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch were on the wall. “Many of the children did not know whose portrait it was, however one little girl told this reporter that it was our President,” the article reads.

The reporter discovered a similar situation in other kindergartens, although in some places the portraits are not in highly visible spots.

“We have asked Tbilisi City Hall press service about it, and the answer was: 'We do not give such an order to anyone and it is not any obligation. The directors of kindergartens do as they wish.'”



Berikashvili shoots down rumours of political career

Rumours are swirling that well-known Georgian actor Givi Berikashvili may enter politics as a Georgian Dream candidate in Gurjaani. Berikashvili, however, says “he laughed a lot” when he has heard the news, Kviris Palitra reports.

“No one has offered it to me and I personally do not have any ambition to go into politics. I will become 79-years-old soon and I think I am not the age to become an MP. However, I do not like the initiative [that allows] 21-year-old young people to become MPs, as an MP's job requires experience and knowledge of life,” Berikashvili said.

He also took the opportunity to comment on recently published social survey results conducted by the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, according to which 49% of respondents support the United National Movement and 19% support the Georgian Dream coalition.

“I do not believe in any polling. I see quite well what is happening around me and I assess the situation from my point of view. The Georgian people will not be afraid and they will make a fair choice. They will vote whom they wish, if someone will be threatened or forced to vote for any particular political party then he/she should say so. People will have a right choice,” he said.