Washington Post - 11.24.2003

The Washington Post

Georgian President Resigns

Uprising Topples Shevardnadze 

By Peter Baker and Susan B. Glasser, Washington Post Foreign Service

TBILISI, Georgia -- An isolated President Eduard Shevardnadze surrendered power Sunday in the face of a popular uprising that brought tens of thousands of people into the streets, ending a decade of turbulent rule in this former Soviet republic.

Fireworks lit up the sky and throngs of protesters erupted into a deafening roar after his resignation was announced. Opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili threw flowers at the crowd to celebrate what he called "the revolution of roses." Jubilant demonstrators danced on buses, waved flags, banged drums, hugged, kissed and cried at the beginning of a street party that went into the night.

Shevardnadze had vowed not to resign after protesters chased him out of Parliament Saturday, three weeks after disputed legislative elections. But by Sunday evening the army and police had deserted him and his closest aides had defected. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov rushed here from Moscow and shuttled between the president and opposition leaders, brokering the resignation with assurances for Shevardnadze's safety.

Shevardnadze said he chose to step down to avert violence. "If I was forced tomorrow to use my authority, it would lead to a lot of bloodshed," he said on national television Sunday evening. "I have never betrayed my country, and so it is better that the president resign."

The Parliament speaker, Nino Burdzhanadze, a pro-Western lawyer and former Shevardnadze ally who joined the opposition several years ago, took over as the country's acting president pending new elections within 45 days. Burdzhanadze, 39, said late Sunday night that Shevardnadze had left the country; a spokesman for the ousted leader, however, said he remained in the capital.

Shevardnadze, 75, the silver-haired former Soviet foreign minister who is credited with helping bring down the Berlin Wall, was forced to resign by a popular revolt reminiscent of the sort he helped touch off in Eastern Europe nearly 15 years ago. While still largely venerated in the West, Shevardnadze long ago lost the faith of Georgians in a country fractured by separatists and crippled by poverty and corruption.

His overthrow came on St. George's Day, which honors the nation's namesake who slew a mythical dragon, providing potent symbolism Sunday for the opposition. In his case, Shevardnadze's ouster was engineered by a U.S.-educated former protégé who spent the last year transforming deep discontent into a viable political movement.

"My friends, today we are a winning nation!" Saakashvili shouted to the crowd from the steps of Parliament. "Congratulations for victory! Congratulations for freedom! . . . This is the birth of a new Georgia."

Saakashvili, who just two weeks ago told Shevardnadze that he could face the same fate as executed Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, pledged on Sunday to protect the former president and praised him for stepping down. "He avoided bloodshed, he acted in the interests of the country and each Georgian -- and I think history -- will highly appreciate this," he said.

Saakashvili, a populist and crusader against corruption who quit Shevardnadze's cabinet, has emerged from the street protests that erupted after the Nov. 2 legislative elections as the country's most popular politician and the likely favorite for president in the forthcoming vote. The contest could pit him against his ally of recent weeks, Burdzhanadze, dividing the coalition that finally brought Shevardnadze down.

For one night, though, there was nothing but harmony and celebration in the streets. The crowds brimmed with a festive energy, singing national folk songs, dancing to pop music and chanting "For a Free Georgia!" Cars along Tbilisi's main boulevard blared their horns as Georgians hung out the windows waving flags adopted by Saakashvili's National Movement. Some people displayed U.S. flags and grabbed visiting journalists to shout, "Thank you, America!"

"I feel like I'm in a dream," said Irma Revazishvili, 39, who brought her 7-year-old son, Irakli, to Parliament to join the protests. "We had believed that he would never resign. . . . This is the will of the people, not any particular group. I guess he finally got the fact that all the people of the nation wanted him to resign."

"We're really tired of social problems, of poverty, of promises that have never been kept," said Mamuka Sabashvili, 31, a lawyer who cannot find work. "Whoever comes, it will be a change for the better."

Inside the State Chancellery, the government headquarters, opposition activists and security agents teamed up to guard the building. Several security agents dressed in civilian clothes joined the crowd outside Parliament, cheering just as loudly as the protesters. "If the president's not just and fair, we don't need that kind of president," said one of the agents, Tamaz Tsiklauri.

Georgia, a country of 5 million people, has been a key U.S. ally in this volatile region, considered a bulwark against Russian influence and a critical conduit for a new oil pipeline. U.S. Special Forces are training Georgian troops to fight suspected Arab terrorists.

But after pouring more than $1 billion in aid into Georgia since Shevardnadze took over in 1992, the U.S. government in recent months grew disenchanted at his inability to reform the country.

The Bush administration on Sunday backed the nation's new leader, with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell telephoning Burdzhanadze to offer support. He encouraged her to hold fair parliamentary elections, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.

In a reflection of the U.S. assessment that Shevardnadze's time had passed, Boucher said "the people of Georgia" supported the opposition's determination "to move to a new stage in Georgian politics." He credited Shevardnadze with being a "towering figure in Georgian history and a close friend of the United States."

Powell also spoke with Shevardnadze after his resignation and thanked him for finding a peaceful end to the crisis. A State Department spokesman said the possibility of resignation had not come up in a conversation on Saturday among Shevardnadze, Powell and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. 

Most Georgians today live in abject poverty. Every winter brings another energy crisis. Pro-Russian separatists run sections of the country as independent fiefdoms. And corruption has spread to virtually every sector of society.

Opposition leaders hoped the parliamentary elections earlier this month would bring change. However, Shevardnadze's party received the most votes. The election was widely condemned as rigged, sparking three weeks of demonstrations.

The protests climaxed Saturday when Saakashvili and his supporters stormed Parliament bearing roses while Shevardnadze was speaking, forcing guards to usher the startled president out of the chamber. 

Shevardnadze declared a state of emergency and refused to resign, but by Sunday morning it was clear he had exhausted his support. Defense Minister David Tevzadze announced he would not intervene. National security adviser Tedo Japaridze and the president's attorney rebuffed Shevardnadze. Military and police commanders declared they would not obey orders to use force against demonstrators.

At 6 p.m., Saakashvili appeared before the crowd at the Parliament building and gave Shevardnadze an ultimatum to resign within an hour, vowing to "lead people to the president's residence and take the place peacefully" if the president failed to reply. 

Tension mounted. At 6:57 p.m., a speaker told the crowd, "Three minutes to go!"

But Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister who also helped talk Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic into giving up power in 2000, convened a meeting with opposition leaders and Shevardnadze. By 8 p.m., Shevardnadze had signed resignation papers and flashed a tired smile as he accepted his fate. "It's not a huge tragedy," he said. "I have a lot to do, a lot to write."

Glasser reported from Moscow. Staff writer Peter Slevin in Washington contributed to this report.