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Fair Georgia - version 2

By Salome Modebadze
Tuesday, January 25
Former Prime Minister and leader of the Movement for Fair Georgia, Zurab Nogaideli introduced his newly established movement at his old headquarters on January 24. The movement with the new title “Fair Georgia” will follow the defined way of internal and foreign policy maintain the social-economic programmes and fight to establish fairness, unity and welfare for people by protecting the national traditions of the country. Their “main goal is to oust Saakashvili’s regime by any means.” Adding that they would continue cooperating with the ruling Russian party (United Russia) Nogaideli informed the media that the first meeting with the representatives of 67 regional organisations is planned for the spring.

On January 11 Nogaideli’s former staff members dismissed him from the movement electing Sergo Javakhidze as the new chairman. The Movement for a Fair Georgia filed a suit against Nogaideli at the City Court on Monday demanding that financial documentation be handed over and sequestered the party’s property. Konstantine Porchkhidze from the administrative board of the movement said they had already obtained some of the financial documentation with serious violations from the revenue service.

Denying any financial violations from his “foolish” former-members, Nogaideli wondered how they had managed to discover any crime. “If there were violations why didn’t the revenue service take appropriate action?” he said. Explaining that 97% of Fair Georgia has no connections with his former co-members Nogaideli said those people “didn’t exist” for him and promised that the “spies” participating in machinations against him would regret doing so.

Talking to The Messenger about Zurab Nogaideli as a politician, analyst Nika Chitadze recollected his previous acts. “Nogaideli is a rather intelligent and well-educated person. He made a number of progressive steps as the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister but I wonder why he changed his political course so sharply following his resignation?” According to the main foreign priorities defined by Nogaideli and his supporters, Chitadze said they had chosen the “wrong way”. Disapproving of Nogaideli’s “unhealthy” oppositional activities, the analyst explained, “Nogaideli’s cooperation with Russia endangers the national welfare of our country as do all the political figures putting their personal ambitions above the interests of Georgia. I remember Nogaideli’s reforming ideas when he was still a member of the late Zurab Jvania’s team, so I just wonder when and why did he change his ideology.”