31.07.2014 / 11:54

Press Digest 31.07.2014

The Nationals were disappointed – the WH statement was ostensible

Saakashvili was off his head on November 7 …that day the entire Government Administration simply followed an order from a mentally deranged man, and in the wake of this the Imedi TV Company was invaded – Petre Mamradze

Fire at oil facility -- technical Supervision Department of the Minister of Economy must claim responsibility for this terrible incident

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The Nationals were disappointed – the WH statement was ostensible

"While touching on the statement released from the U.S. Political Biggies, I cannot abstain from announcing that this announcement was made only ostensibly; they simply wanted to show some kind of superficial reaction to their move to summon the ex-President for questioning. And actually I think that by issuing this statement they did not intend to warn or punish our present authorities. On the contrary, rather credible reports saying that the careful and well-formulated policy of our Government truly plays in the hands of the U.S. Administration have reached my ears,” states expert Mamuka Areshidze in his interview with the Alia gazette.

“You know, hyperactive Saakashvili was not in the good books of a rather great deal of American officials. In the WH, they understand perfectly well that making Putin have his back against the wall cannot be viewed as a rational policy; they are well-aware of the fact that Putin must be left with the possibility to retreat if he desires when it comes to Ukraine. An expression “Putin’s Face must be Saved,” comes from the European countries. Politics that is pursued by the powers that be and politics pursued by Mikheil Saakshvili are a really far cry from each other. And information with which I will provide you now is from President Poroshenko’s entourage, and this information says that the steps which some of the Georgian officials are taking in Ukraine really jars Mr. Poroshenko’s nerves,” states Mamuka Areshidze.

“Within the Nationals, rumors float round that the Ukrainian high officials take only Giorgi Vashadze’s advice into consideration; as for other members of the National Movement, they have allegedly been alienated. For instance, Bendukidze is not as firmly set up on Ukraine’s political stage as he was in the past. However, it is still difficult to hamper Mikheil Saakashvili in taking active steps in Ukraine, as his influence is still keenly felt in Ukraine,” maintains the respondent.

"As for the allegations saying that our leadership has agreed with the West to institute legal proceedings against Saakashvili, I am deeply convinced that they ring true. Generally, taking impulsive steps is out of Ivanishvili’s character. And you can be sure that precisely Bidzina Ivanishvili has laid the foundation for this process. Generally, we, Georgians, ascribe a great importance to Georgia in the World history; and you know it’s a bit ridiculous. The U.S. Administration has to handle much more paramount issues than this…If the U.S. Government was not sure that our leadership is loyal, they would not announce us as their key allays vis-à-vis Ukraine and Moldova. If our top officials chased a pro-Russian course, as the Nationals are bellowing throughout the country, the U.S. Administration would have definitely adopted some measures against this. Thus, their indictments against our leadership can be viewed as preposterous,” contends the expert.

I served as head of the Government Chancellery in November, 2007. Only 10 activists were gathered outside the Parliament building then but Saakashvili still did not manage to keep his head, he was immensely nervous, foaming at the mouth and urged those gathered outside the building to disperse and leave the area. He was off his head and bellowed across the city that Tbilisi would turn into a city of tents, and he had to hamper them from doing this. Premier Noghaideli held a Government session that day. As soon as tensions heightened and the people were subjected to violence, Mr. Noghaideli suspended the session and contacted Mr. Saakashvili who ordered him to keep the session running as he could control the situation himself. On the spur of the moment, I contacted Mrs. Burjanadze, who asked me to call on her. Thus, I headed for the Parliament and witnessed how Purjanadze was shouting at Saakshvili in his office; she called him insane and threatened that his era would come a close that very day,” declares former Head of the Government Chancellery, Petre Mamradze in his interview with the Rezonansi gazette.

“A threat that he might be ousted instantly shook up Mikheil Saakashvili. Mr. Zhvania also employed this method at crunch time. After this, reports swirled round that Ugulava and Rurua supported the decision to use force against our citizens, Merabishvili was against this though. However, he complied with Saakashvili’s order without hesitation. One of the acquaintances of Goga Khutishvili heard how Giga Bokeria bellowed across the room on the phone “what? Have they really taken over the Imedi TV Company? Have they lost their senses? Have all of them really gone crazy? – As they say after this, he left his office in haste. One of the members of Saakashvili’s team, who is viewed as his adherent today too, said that on November 7, the entire Government Administration simply followed an order from one mentally deranged man and in the wake of this the Imedi TV Company was invaded. Rupert Murdock tried his best to let the entire world know that the independent TV Company was raided in Georgia. The Americans did not urge Saakashvili to step down but Mathew Bryza visited the capital of Georgia and calmly explained to our ex-President what kind of results his move to subject the journalists and ordinary citizens to violence would yield,” states Petre Mamradze.

“Bryza explained everything to him so clearly that Saakashvili himself decided to bow out of the post of President. It was an excellent PR campaign for him; actually, he has not left his post – he still had access to the country’s administrative resources; law enforcers were at his service too. Plus, our dear ex-President was deeply convinced that he would have met with victory, reinstate his name and come into power again. He always succeeded in finding an outlet from a blind alley. .. He himself said once: “You know how tough of a nut I am to crack. I will find a way out of this situation too,” claims the respondent.

“Saakashvii will definitely use their move to institute a case against him to his own advantage – he will try to label himself as a democratic reformer who was one of the laureates of Nobel Prize and who has now been subjected to political persecution by Putin’s order. He will try his best to ensure everyone that our billionaire tycoon Ivanishvili, who has taken helm of the country and who, in his words, leads the entire Prosecutor’s office by its nose is in the Russian leader’s service and follows his orders,” concludes Mr. Mamradze.

Fire at oil facility -- technical Supervision Department of the Minister of Economy must claim responsibility for this terrible incident

“The experts link the fire at Gulf oil facility to technical malfunctions and hold the technical Supervision Department accountable for it. As they claim within the Emergency Situation Agency, if not for the timely measures taken by them, the fire would have brought serious harm to the facility and claimed the lives of a number of people. As MIA informs, the investigation into the case is underway under article 240 that involves the violation of security regulations at an oil facility,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.

“The fire was been contained at 11:00, when out of the blue, five cisterns exploded. Approximately 2000-2500 square kilometers, five car repair shops and around 10 cars were caught in the fire. One man also sustained injuries; he has already been treated at the Ghudushauri Clinic. As Emergency Service Head, Temur Giorgadze, claims such a large-scale fire has not occurred in Tbilisi for 14 years,” the article says.

“By all odds, losses will be serious as these five cisterns were full to the brim. This conflagration would definitely inflict serious harm on us; the firefighters did not spare efforts to extinguish it; even a reservoir was about to blow up. And if this really happened, a truly horrible tragedy would have taken place in our city. I have served as head of this service for 14 years; however, I don’t remember such a destructive fire in Tbilisi,” states Mr. Giorgadze.

“First of all, technical service of the Ministry of Economy must be held responsible for this terrible incident. They must find out when and how carefully this facility was examined, what kind of faults have been detected there. Those who are responsible for safety issues at such a facility must have special qualifications. Whether this way or that the actual fact is that the technical service is in need of restructuring as under the National Movement this body became functionless,” asserts Giorgi Nikolaishvili.