Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:
Recent political processes in Georgia cause nothing but concern. Today, the political circle in the country has closed - the current government has sent the most popular minister of the "Georgian Dream" ruling coalition, Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, into retirement.
Georgian deputy prime minister, Minister of Energy Kakha Kaladze does not exclude that other ministers of the current government from Alasania's team, who headed the "Our Georgia - Free Democrats" party will also resign. Alasania's friend and colleague, State Minister for European Integration Alexi Petriashvili said that he will resign today.
Another minister from the Alasania's team in the government, Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze resigned Nov.5. The Minister of Justice Tea Tsulukiani hasn't made any statements so far, however, it is not excluded that she will resign soon.
But one of the major issues today is whether Alasania's party will leave the "Georgian Dream" ruling coalition, which is also possible. In case of making such a decision, the ruling "Georgian Dream" will lose ten deputy mandates - and this will not allow the coalition to keep the majority on the the parliament's member list. This means that the ruling party will have very few maneuvers in the parliament to adopt a number of laws. However, even this did not prevent the government to make a decision on the minister's resignation.
Alasania's resignation was preceded by a big political scandal, involving the leadership of the Georgian Defense Ministry. On October 28 five senior officials of the ministry were detained on charges of embezzlement of budget funds. On October 30 the court made a decision on their arrest. Alasania said that he is sure of the innocence of the detainees.
Alasania links his resignation with his pro-Western orientation, claiming that the current Georgian authorities conduct pro-Russian policy, opposing Georgia's integration into NATO and the EU. He urged the pro-Western Georgian forces "to unite in order to confront the pro-Russian forces in the government." Alasania said that Russia has "a concrete plan of destruction of the state institutions that provide Georgia's integration into Europe and NATO."
By the way, the President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili also said about the connection of the resignation of Alasania with the threat to the country's European aspirations, saying that the situation "poses a threat to Euro-Atlantic integration" and "Georgian army, which is the guarantor of the country's sovereignty."
No matter how events unfold in Georgia, the only thing clear for now is that the withdrawal of Alasania from the post of defense minister will completely change the political direction of the country.
Another confrontation in the lobbies of power, the resignation of a senior official, who promoted the country's relations with NATO and the EU - all of this will definitely trigger a reaction from the West. Surely, when a person who has lobbied Western orientation of Georgia for many years, retires, there are those, who need it. The question is, who needs it and for what purpose.
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