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Caucasus
Shevardnadze resigns
2003-11-23
Shevardnadze resignsFox News reports that Eduard Shevardnadze has resigned. Earlier CNN reported that the Georgian National Guard had switched allegiance to the opposition.
I think we've seen this coming for the past week or so...
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#7  Seems like yesterday that Shevardnadze was a good guy. Ah well alas and a lak.
Posted by: Shipman   2003-11-23 8:09:33 PM  

#6  Old Grouch, thanks for the tip. Cinderella Bloggerfeller had a link to this BBC article quoting regional heads of state on their concern with the situation in Georgia.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-11-23 7:07:15 PM  

#5  This might be a good place to remind Rantburgers (mmmm... new taste sensation?) of a couple of blogs relevant to this topic. Cincerella Bloggerfeller follows lot of central European sources. Here are profiles of opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili and Nino Burjanadze (Georgia's "acting president"), both translated from Gazeta Wyborcza.

And Mary Neal of Living With Caucasians is blogging from Tbilisi:

"President Shevardnadze issued a statement from his office that says, "The armed attack on the president has ended without casualties. President Shevardnadze is alive. An armed coup has occurred in Georgia."
(!)
Only trouble here is that it occurred on live television, and everyone saw it. No arms. Not even remotely a question of casualties.

I wonder how long it will take some news service to take the fallacious implications of this statement seriously.

Posted by: Old Grouch   2003-11-23 4:48:42 PM  

#4  Quote from a Reuters article:

"The 81-year-old, who wore a pin bearing a picture of Georgia's other well-known son Josef Stalin, said he was fed up of waiting for his 14 lari (about $7) a month pension to arrive and accused Shevardnadze of toying with peoples' lives. "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20031123/wl_nm/georgia_scene_dc

If a Stalin supporter hated Shevardnadze then I'm nervous about who he does support and what role they had in the "revolution". I know nothing about the opposition... I'm curious to learn what their ideology is.
Posted by: Damn_Proud_American   2003-11-23 4:44:15 PM  

#3  in the accounts I have read there is no talk of Islam being a factor in Georgian politics. I would guess that our interests coincide with those of the Russians in this case. We would like a stable regime that doesn't sponsor or host internaitonal terrorists.
I wonder if they will ask for Western help.
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-11-23 1:45:41 PM  

#2  Who can tell at this point? Ed started out as a unifying figure in Georgia after the shoot-em-up period with Zviad Gamsakhurdia. As an administrator he's been ineffective and corruption's become a way of life -- Georgia's as much an alliance of bandidos as it is a country. My gut tells me to put my hopes on the opposition and hope the process spreads to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, where they also have presidents-for-life. But I don't think they're going to be able to actually govern any better than Ed did.

Both the candidates to succeed Ed seem to be pro-American. On the other hand, Russia regards Georgia as being within its sphere of influence. If they try to do something about the Pankisi Gorge and put the military assistance we gave them last year to use, then it'll be a good thing.
Posted by: Fred   2003-11-23 11:29:42 AM  

#1  Fred, is this good news or bad?
Posted by: Super Hose   2003-11-23 11:25:17 AM  

00:00