Saakashvili Comments on New Cabinet, Opposition
President Saakashvili said he had kept his promise to present ?a seriously reshuffled? cabinet.
?We have promised a seriously reshuffled cabinet? with broad representation from various sectors of society, and [as promised] selected people based on their professionalism,? Saakashvili told Georgian journalists in Strasbourg after PM-nominee Lado Gurgenidze named the new cabinet in Tbilisi on January 24. ?All these [promises] have been kept. The new cabinet also features people without political party affiliation, including the prime minister.?
He said that the opposition?s refusal to accept his offer of cabinet posts had come as no surprise, given the approach of parliamentary elections. He said, however, that a coalition government had never been on the table.
?The cooperation of individual opposition figures depends on their willingness. We were willing [to cooperate with them]. I understand, given their preparations for the parliamentary elections, why they didn’t want to get involved in the cabinet at this stage. But the door remains open, even after the parliamentary elections,? Saakashvili said.
Saakashvili’s comments followed an address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, in which he also spoke of cooperating with the opposition.
He said: ?Immediately after our presidential election I reached out to our opposition parties to find ways to give them a more influential role in our major institutions, including the cabinet and senior level positions. Already important steps have been agreed on reforming the public television board, on further dialogue to improve the composition and efficiency of the Central Election Commission and election commissions countrywide [and] , among other things, to enhance political pluralism? In pursuing this agenda for my second and last term as President of Georgia, I will continue to ask the opposition for their ideas, their cooperation, their help. And if we succeed, they will share the credit for that success.?
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