by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Irakly Okruashvili, Georgian ex-Defense Minister and President Mikheil Saakashvili's backer during the Rose Revolution, has announced plans to stand for Gori Mayor in June, despite his recent judicial proceedings over the alleged racketeering of businessman Jemal Svanidze's Geocell company.
The ex-minister got away with the story in 2005, but Saakashvili recalled it in 2007, when Okruashvili became an opposition figure.
After the revolution, Okruashvili became the Prosecutor General of Georgia and started mass arrests. Saakashvili appointed him as the Interior Minister. Okruashvili used the moment to unfreeze the conflict around South Ossetia, organizing an attack on Russian peacekeepers in July 2004. Responding to Moscow's outrage, Saakashvili appointed him as the Defense Minister. There, he organized a press conference and blamed Ukraine for selling low quality military vehicles.
Tired of Okruashvili's scandals, Saakashvili offered him to become the Minister of the Economy, an offer Irakly probably considered an insult. He called it a war and was later arrested, only to be sent to France. He was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. After the resignation of Saakashvili, he returned to Georgia and his sentence was nullified. Okruashvili may become Saakashvili's opponent for the Georgian Dream coalition, while the ex-president is returning to politics in Ukraine.
