Tbilisi to Table ‘Comprehensive’ Abkhaz Plan in September

Georgia will table in mid-September a comprehensive package of measures in line with the Abkhaz peace plan proposed by President Saakashvili in March, Alexandre Lomaia, the secretary of the Georgian National Security Council (NSC) said on August 4.

He said that the package would involve mainly legal acts, including drafts of constitutional amendments required for implementation of the peace plan. The plan proposes “unrestricted autonomy” for Abkhazia, a joint free economic zone in Ochamchire and Gali districts, Abkhaz representation in central government and an Abkhaz vice-president with the right to veto Abkhaz-related decisions.

Lomaia said that working groups with the involvement of officials from various state agencies would be set up to prepare the package of measures and legislative amendments. President Saakashvili instructed the government to set up such working groups in April 2008, about a month after he unveiled the peace plan.

“We should present, first of all, to the Russian Federation, and to the separatists and the international community, a comprehensive plan, which envisages the restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity and the creation of a dignified environment for economic development and better living conditions for the residents of those regions [Abkhazia and South Ossetia],” Lomaia said.

Lomaia was speaking with journalists after a session of a special state commission, which discussed Georgia’s Abkhaz peace plan, as well as recent developments in South Ossetia. Temur Iakobashvili, the state minister for reintegration; Nika Gvaramia, the justice minister; Eka Zguladze, the deputy interior minister; and other officials, including a lawmaker from the parliamentary minority, Paata Davitaia, attended the session.

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