A top official working for the regime in Tskhinvali says he agrees with revelations the financier Bidzina Ivanishvili put forth in a lengthy open letter published Wednesday as part of his effort to unseat president Saakashvili and give the country back to its people. A close advisor to so-called South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoiti told … Read more
A 19 year old Georgian soldier has been killed in an what appears to be an accident at a base in Zugdidi, a town on the Black Sea coast near the border with Abkhazia. The accident took place at a base for the paramilitary forces of Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs. At the Interior Ministry’s … Read more
The stripping of a businessman’s citizenship right after he made a dramatic call to remove Mikheil Saakashvili from power moved one step closer to turning into a legal battle Thursday, as Bidzina Ivanishvili’s lawyer presented five documents said to prove that Georgia was breaking the law when revoking his citizenship. “We request a clear and … Read more
Two observers from the Council of Europe (CoE) have asked Georgia’s ruling party to stop coming up with surprise changes in a draft law without going through the normal democratic procedures. At least according to one of the opposition politicians, two rapporteurs from the Monitoring Committee of the CoE’s Parliamentary Assembly asked Georgia’s ruling party … Read more
Journalists Wednesday responded to the wealthiest Georgian Bidzina Ivanishvili’s call for them to form an alliance to unseat Mikheil Saakashvili, while experts debated whether Georgia had the right to revoke his citizenship. Tuesday night, the tycoon-turned-politicians had the support of at least the viewers, if not the staff, of two small cable TV stations which … Read more
“Stop, Misha, you are standing on the edge of the abyss, stop!” was the fincier Bidzina Ivanishvili’s message to Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili Wednesday. As the financier, who is one of the world’s richest, released his second statement on a mission to unseat the Georgian leader, he clarified his position towards the different oppositional groups … Read more
In just a couple of days after Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Georgian billionaire known internationally as Boris Ivanishvili, had announced his plans to establish his own political party, to run for the parliamentary and presidential elections due in 2012 and 2013, to win decisively both elections, and to set up a new one-party government, the Georgian … Read more
The authorities in Georgia have stripped the country’s richest man of his citizenship, just as he was preparing to launch a new opposition movement aimed at unseating president Mikheil Saakashvili in elections the coming two years. Revoking Bidzina Ivanishvili’s citizenship effectively means that he can’t legally take part in political activities nor fund political parties, … Read more
Two thirds of Georgians think of themselves as unemployed. Living conditions are so dire that the question of territorial integrity has become secondary. But Georgians still welcome the government’s reforms, National Democratic Institute (NDI) Georgia director Luis Navaro said as he met journalists to present the results of a fresh survey. The three top priorities … Read more
The public broadcaster and two independent TV stations are competing to carry the political debut of Georgia’s richest man. First, the public broadcaster released a statement saying it invites the Georgian billionaire on to their Channel 1 to answer the questions from journalists. The financier had asked before the weekend to be let on the … Read more