Washington Post - 01.26.2004

Washington Post

Georgians Greet New President With Rose Petals, High Hopes

Saakashvili Takes Office After Protests Ousted Shevardnadze 

By Peter Slevin, Washington Post Staff Writer

TBILISI, Georgia -- Red rose petals floated from the sky as thousands of Georgians celebrated their hopes for a new era at the inauguration Sunday of a youthful president, two months after a triumph over corrupt rule.

As children waved the country's bright new flag and adults spoke of fresh possibility, the ceremony for 36-year-old President Mikheil Saakashvili echoed the spirit of the East European revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Saakashvili, a U.S.-trained lawyer, promised integrity and hard work in pursuit of Georgia's "unification, security and well-being." He said he wanted to pull separatist regions back into the fold and he reached out to Russia, which has refused to withdraw several thousand troops from the former Soviet republic.

"We don't need Russia to be our enemy. We need Russia to be our good friend," Saakashvili declared outside Parliament where, bearing roses, he led a decisive Nov. 22 protest. "Today, as my first act, I am offering a friendly hand to Russia and I am waiting for a friendly response."

The crowd cheered, yet Saakashvili left no doubt which country he considers Georgia's most powerful international ally. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was the guest of honor at the day-long festivities, overshadowing his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

"If Moscow will change their politics," Saakashvili told reporters on inauguration eve, "we'll have close contacts with Russia as well."

Georgia, an impoverished Caucasus nation of 4.5 million, must navigate a difficult road as it seeks to overcome decades of Soviet domination and a dozen years of increasingly sclerotic rule by Eduard Shevardnadze, who was pressured to resign by mass demonstrations after rigged parliamentary elections in November.

The government, unable to collect taxes, is bloated and broke. Georgia shares a border with war-battered Chechnya and is struggling with Russian-backed secession movements in the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Above all, the new administration is confronting a stalled economy hampered by cronyism and corruption.

In recent weeks, Georgia's interim leadership has jailed prominent officials from the Shevardnadze government on corruption charges, including the energy minister, the head of the state railroad and the chief of the national soccer federation. Arrest warrants have been issued for the leader of Georgia's largest region and several deputy cabinet ministers.

Saakashvili, for the first time, left open the possibility that Shevardnadze, who turned 76 on Sunday, could be prosecuted. He said he remained personally opposed to a trial, but asserted that the law should take its course. The country's biggest industries, he said, are owned by Shevardnadze's family.

"Before today, the government was trying to protect itself from the people. Now, the people should be protected by the government," Saakashvili told the crowd outside Parliament. "There were times when government punished people. Now, the people will be able to punish guilty government officials."

As the speech ended with a pledge to dedicate his presidency to Georgians who died for national freedom, Georgians now impoverished and a new generation of Georgians "and their demands," helicopters roared overhead, releasing flurries of rose petals in honor of the "rose revolution."

Saakashvili, who once bicycled to classes at George Washington University from his Dupont Circle apartment, has a degree from Columbia Law School and has studied in Florence and Strasbourg, France. He aspires to draw his country toward Europe and the West.

Nine in 10 voters backed Saakashvili in the presidential election earlier this month after other opposition leaders deferred to him, and now they expect him to act.

"We want to get rid of the old government, not just the old president. We want fairness and justice," said Tamila Nikuradze, 35, a teacher who took part in the November protests. "People are giving him time and demanding much from him. People will hold him accountable."

While his two principal partners in protest, Nino Burdzhanadze and Zurab Zhvania, hesitated about demanding Shevardnadze's resignation, Saakashvili insisted. And he outmaneuvered Shevardnadze, demonstrating a toughness that many Georgians say they respect.

"This young man inspires people with his energy, his dedication and also his moral authority. One can feel it everywhere," said Alexander Rondeli, director of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. "We had already forgotten when we last had this spirit."

Saakashvili said he would ask the United States -- which has contributed nearly $1 billion in aid to Georgia in the past 12 years -- for help. Powell, who shared the stage at a town hall meeting with the young president immediately after the inauguration, did nothing to lower Georgian expectations.

"You can be sure the United States will be with you every step of the way," Powell said in a session broadcast across the nation. He said "the doors to NATO remain open" if Georgia meets required standards, and said he would urge Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgian territory in talks Monday with President Vladimir Putin.

Powell said the United States will deliver $166 million in foreign assistance to Georgia this fiscal year.

Regaining control of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and a third troublesome region, Ajaria, are central to the ambitions of Saakashvili and many of his countrymen. Georgian soldiers in fatigues marched down Rustaveli, the central avenue, before the inauguration, chanting "Abkhazia is ours!"

"If Georgia does not achieve territorial integrity in the future, nothing can change," said the Rev. John Givishvili-Amilakhvari, as he stood outside his 12th-century church. The United States and Russia must help, he said, but "even for the United States, it is hard to find solutions for Georgia's integrity."