Saakashvili says new government is in isolation
By Salome Modebadze
Thursday, May 16
President Mikheil Saakashvili is paying yet another visit to the US. Saakashvili said on May 14th that during his previous visit, he met with the acting US government while it is now important to know who will be the next generation of politicians.
He said this is why he and his delegation are meeting the representatives of the both – Democratic and Republican parties, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who according to the president’s administration, is considered as one of the presidential candidates for 2016. “Those are the people who will be in the leadership of this country,” he said.
Confident that Russia is becoming weaker and weaker; Saakashvili said the US is now on the path to prosperity. He said that Georgia has the greatest prospects with the US.
He also emphasized the necessity for improving the country’s foreign relations and economic indicators. Saakashvili thinks that Georgia is in a vacuum in terms of international relations and may thus become a companion of the “occupants”. He said when he was elected as president after the Rose Revolution, he had various visits during the very first months of his presidency throughout the world, while the new government has not yet held a serious bilateral visit to other countries aside from Georgia's immediate neighbors.
Earlier on May 14, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said that during the six months of the Georgian Dream’s governance, the coalition has managed to show “the real face” to the international community. “This is the result of successful visits and activities of me, our team members and the diplomatic corps,” the PM said, adding that making foreign trips was not his focus, as there “is lots of work to be done here” within the country.
“Saakashvili went to America and came back, so what? It has not changed anything... Let him say where is he going, for what purpose and what he is bringing back,” Ivanishvili said.
Since the October Parliamentary Elections, the new Georgian government representatives have paid visits to different countries worldwide, as well as received foreign delegations to Georgia.
Political analyst Soso Tsintsadze thinks it is exaggerated to say that Georgia is in “isolation.” Stressing that it is not necessary to travel all the time to increase the influence of a country, the analyst told The Messenger that with its strategic location, Georgia’s authority will gradually increase. Tsintsadze said the contacts the country has nowadays are adequate to the country’s wealth, influence and stability.
Stressing that a lot of influential delegations are constantly paying visits to Georgia in recent months, he said the mainstream media does not always cover such meetings, as they have become so common for the country’s lifestyle. However, the analysts stressed that the rest of the world is aware of the failure in cohabitation between the president and the Georgian Dream coalition, thus the critical statements against one another cannot change their opinion over the country.
Tsintsadze said the president is still acting in Georgia thus he can have official trips and speeches; however, the analyst said the pre-election campaign for the presidential race will be soon launched and the country will have a new reality.
