Among the opposition politicians of Georgia the leader of the Free Democrats party, Irakly Alasania, takes a special place. He gained 20% of the vote in the elections forTbilisi mayor in 2010. Even though it wasn’t enough to win, since that time Alasania has been thought to be the strongest opposition politician, who is able to compete with any candidate of the ruling party in the presidential elections in 2013.
Of course, there are Bidzina Ivanishvili and the former speaker of the parliament Nino Burdzhanadze, but Ivanishvili aspires to the Premier’s position, according to his statements, while Burdzhanadze has never participated in elections since 2004, and her real rating is unknown. According to polls, she falls behind Alasania. So we should pay more attention to Alasania as a promising and serious opponent of Saakashvili’s team.
Alasania, unlike Ivanishvili and Burdzhanadze, has a social background similar to Saakashvili’s. It is a gilded youth, raised in families of the Soviet establishment. The difference is that Saakashvili was raised in a family of the scientific intelligentsia, while Alasania’s father was an important official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Irakly Alasania is 6 years younger than the current president, but they celebrate their birthdays on the same day – December 21st.
During the war with Abkhazia, Alasania’s family lost its head: on September 27th, 1993, the Abkhazian military captured Mamia Alasania and shot him dead on the road from Sukhumi to Gudauta. To his credit, this tragedy didn’t influence Irakly Alasania’s attitude to Abkhazians.
After the Rose Revolution, Alasania headed the refugee government of Abkhazia, but returned to diplomatic service because of the conflict with the defense minister Irakly Okruashvili, who has always stood for a military settlement of conflicts.
From June 2006 to December 2008 Alasania had been the permanent envoy of Georgia to the UN. Ahead of the five-day war the foreign minister of Abkhazia, Sergey Shamba, suggested he hold negotiations on development of a peacemaking treaty, which presupposed the launch of the Georgian Army from the Kodori Gorge with a guarantee that the local Georgian population would be safe. However, Saakashvili didn’t believe it and called Shamba’s proposal “another trick by Moscow and Sukhumi.” Alasania still thinks that in spring 2008 Georgia lost its chance to prevent the war, at least with Abkhazia.
In July 2009, after the unsuccessful effort to overthrow Saakashvili by the united opposition, Alasania headed the party Our Georgia Free Democrats. When he failed in the elections for Tbilisi mayor, Alasania congratulated the winner publicly, which was first time in the Georgian political space since 1990. It is common for Georgia to call any lost elections a falsification.
Of course, the former speaker Burdzhanadze accused Alasania of betrayal and dealing with Saakashvili. However, the leader of the Free Democrats has his own position. And his views are shared by many opposition politicians.
As for political views and a foreign political course, Alasania supports integration of the country into NATO and the EU, but he also suggests finding a compromise with Russia for recovery of relations. Alasania is the first Georgian politician to meet the foreign minister of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, after the war in August 2008.
His image is acceptable both to Washington and Moscow. He is supported by Ivanishvili. This is a serious resource for a young politician. The mild and intelligent style of Alasania doesn’t seem to be promising, as the struggle for power in Georgia is traditionally conducted with tough measures.
Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to VK
