Kote Gabashvili, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Georgian parliament, in his office in Tbilisi on June 8, 2006.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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The People's Will
// Georgia Willing to Work with Dmitry Sanakoyev in South Ossetia
The results of the vote in South Ossetia are still the center of attention, which is understandable. However, it is the extremely active role of the Kremlin in the recent events that has attracted the most attention. It is sufficient to note that Tskhinvali is playing host to Modest Kolerov, a representative of the chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration. Stress is clearly being laid on PR technologies. Unfortunately, "the virtual factor" has been taken to absurd extremes by those who are interested not in resolving the problem but in maintaining it in its potentially explosive condition. I am not talking about the fact that practically all of the leaders of the armed forces in South Ossetia are sent from Russia and that they have no relationship to South Ossetia whatsoever. From a public relations point of view, everything is being done to create the impression of "elections to the glory of President Kokojty." But there were actually two different processes at work.
When Kokojty held the referendum, he made sure that the roads were closed by armored vehicles, the population was frightened, Russian journalists who dared to be in Georgian villages were beaten, Georgian cell phone connections were ruptured, and so forth. Simultaneously, the bugaboo of the Georgian threat was spread around the North Caucasus. There was even information disseminated about a "Georgian landing party" close to a village in Avnevi. Needless to say, it was later confirmed that there had been no such thing. The old instructor advised and guaranteed 99% support, and Kokojty announced the creation of a "great Ossetia."
Simultaneously, however, other elections and another referendum were taking place in South Ossetia. At these elections, there were no barriers or detachments of troops. Georgians and Ossetians voted for peace and the restoration of South Ossetia. They chose a very well-qualified person to be their president: Dmitry Sanakoyev is a former prime minister, a former defense minister, and a South Ossetian patriot. Georgia is ready to immediately react to the results of the referendum and to not only give South Ossetia the status of a republic under the constitution but also to strike a federative agreement with the region that would give its much wider rights than, for example, North Ossetia enjoys as part of Russia. We are prepared to respect the choice of the people of South Ossetia and are not demanding that the Georgian president nominate the leaders of the republic and that the South Ossetian parliament simply rubber-stamp the nominations, as is the case in the Russian Federation. We are prepared to immediately begin negotiations concerning granting South Ossetia the status of an autonomous republic. Such negotiations have also been offered to Edward Kokojty several times, but he continues to refuse. Since he still refuses, we will hold negotiations with Dmitry Sanakoyev, who is supported by a significant proportion of the inhabitants of all four regions of South Ossetia. Incidentally, these are people whose ballots and ballot boxes were carried to be counted not by armored vehicles but by the people themselves – on horseback, by bicycle, in wagons, and even by foot.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is saying to "take the elections and the referendum seriously." And I am saying the same. It is necessary to take the free expression of the will of the South Ossetian people seriously.
Kote Gabashvili, chairman of the Georgian parliament's international affairs committee
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 15, 2006
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