Ex-president Margvelashvili Welcomes President Zourabichvili’s Initiative
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, December 28
Yesterday the fourth president of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili visited the third president Mikheil Saakashvili in a military hospital in Gori and discussed security issues in the country. After the meeting, Margvelashvili told journalists that Saakashvili is a prisoner of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to him, Saakashvili is one of the prominent figures in the fight against Putin in Georgia.
“No matter how much we disagree with each other, it is in Putin's interest to have Saakashvili imprisoned,” he noted.
The fourth president also stressed the need for a meeting of the current and ex-presidents. He noted that President Zourabichvili’s initiative, which is aimed at national reconciliation and de-escalation of political tension, should be welcomed and supported, adding that Georgia is ‘facing a very serious challenge’. Margvelashvili expressed readiness for participating in the three President format and stressed that the meeting should send a message to the Georgian people that they will always be united against a common enemy despite their political preferences.
Margvelashvili also told journalists that in the process of negotiations, politically motivated prosecutions against the Georgian politicians should be suspended. According to him, the precondition of negotiations should be that whoever gathers at the negotiation table and discusses Georgia's unified and comprehensive policy on issues such as the country’s main geopolitical challenges, shouldn't be prisoners or persecuted. The discussion will involve both Georgian society and the political spectrum.
President Saakashvili has announced that during this hardship and political tension Margvelashvili has decided to play a consolidating role. “In this regard, both Salome Zourabichvili and Giorgi Margvelashvili can fulfill a truly historic mission,” he noted. Saakashvili expressed support for Zourabichvili’s initiative and affirmed his readiness to participate in the three President format meeting.
On December 10, the fifth President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili voiced her initiative to start a process of a national agreement with a large-scale involvement of the public. As she told French media outlet France 24, she took responsibility to start “a process of reconciliation, truth, and justice.” To achieve this goal, Zourabichvili is holding meetings with political leaders of both the ruling party and the opposition.
