Powell to Attend Georgian President’s Inauguration

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on January 8 that he will attend the inauguration of Georgia’s new President, scheduled for January 25.

“I am looking forward to attending,” Powell said at a news briefing. He also called the January 4 presidential elections in Georgia successful.

According to the Central Election Commission, with 94% of the ballots counted, Mikheil Saakashvili received 96% of the vote.

Mikheil Saakashvili said, while commenting the statement of Colin Powell that he is surprised and he did not know “anything in advance about the willingness of the U.S. Secretary of States.”

“This would be a really sensational fact,” Mikheil Saakashvili told Rustavi 2 television.

Powell also praised the way ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze, “our good friend and old colleague,” stepped down last November, saying “it was done in a way that did not lead to violence.”

Inauguration of Georgia’s new President – January 25, coincides with the birthday of Eduard Shevardnadze.

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