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Monday, May 10
Valery Gelbakhiani: Despite the fact I have no interest in running Georgia from here I shall be forced to think about it later

"I will tell you directly, I am very offended by Georgian politicians. I had some hopes last year but these were in vain. I wonder why the opposition who cheat people are any better than Saakashvili. I urge the citizens of Georgia to throw politicians like our opposition out of politics," former MP and campaign HQ manager for Badri Patarkatsishvili Valery Gelbakhiani states in an interview with Versia.

"I am in love with my people and homeland. I do not want to get involved in politics or anything else. I just want to be an ordinary citizen of my country; I want to live freely, do my job, protect people. But unfortunately I have been accused of a serious crime in a resolution of Parliament and cannot enter Georgia. I am being sought by Interpol. How can I seek justice where there is violence? Political emigration is unceasing and every such emigrant formulates policies from exile. Despite the fact I have no interest in running Georgia from here I shall be forced to think about it later," Valery Gelbakhiani says.

"I looked for change from the present authorities but they disappointed me. Our opposition have also failed to make even cosmetic changes and are cheating us at the present moment. I am thinking of leading an opposition party to show everyone the meaning of real battle. I shall soon be able to talk about particular individuals and let them dare throw stones at me. These people are saying that they will riot and remove the present regime but they still walk the streets freely.

"Numerous Georgians assembled at the National Stadium on May 26. Concrete decisions should be made at such assemblies: it should have been announced that the Constitution is against the public interest and has thus ceased to have force. Presidential and Parliamentary elections could be called and an interim government could have been set up to lead the country towards these elections. A new Government could come into power through the abovementioned decisions," - Valery Gelbakhiani states.

Asked, "How do you intend to achieve all this when the majority of the opposition people you criticise have joined the National Assembly?" Gelbakhiani answers: "I shall wait for the right moment, allowing them to hold that assembly. I do not like to speak much about myself but I am one of the authors of that idea."



Did a financial scandal cause the resignation of a Deputy Minister?

Rezonansi says that Deputy Defence Minister Vato Makaridze has left his post. This information has been confirmed by the Ministry but no reasons for his departure have been given.

Makaridze began working at the Ministry of Defence when David Tevzadze was the Minister as a finance officer. When Bacho Akhalaia took over he was appointed Deputy Minister with responsibility for coordinating financial management. He did this for two months, but left two months ago and is not in Tbilisi now.

"The dismissal of Makaridze suspiciously coincide with the investigation into corrupt international deals launched in the USA. Both these things happened in March. Both of these people were financial controllers. But scandals of this kind will continue to take place until the Defence Ministry budget becomes transparent. Every head of the Financial Department will have their career ended by a scandal involving the police," military analyst Giorgi Tavdgiridze says.