Saakashvili Meets with Some Opposition Leaders

President Saakashvili told a group of opposition politicians attending an extended session of National Security Council (NSC) that the authorities “have no secrets from you.”

In his live televised remarks made before the launch of the meeting on October 12, Saakashvili said “not a single sensitive information” discussed during the previous similar meeting with the opposition leaders in August was leaked in the press.

Along with representatives from the parliamentary opposition, only two representatives from the non-parliamentary opposition were attending the meeting, unlike the previous one in August, which also included Irakli Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia. Alasania said few hours before the meeting started on October 12, that he would not participate and called on the authorities to move on to concrete steps instead of “talking.”

Saakashvili said that he invited opposition representatives at NSC session “to identify key directions of the state strategy towards the Georgia’s occupied territories” and also to report about the Georgian delegation’s participation in the UN General Assembly last month.

Below are extracts from his opening remarks at the session:
 
“I want to say that we have no secrets from you at these meetings. You are the representatives of Georgian political parties – both parliamentary and non-parliamentary groups, who play an active role in everyday public life.

During the previous meeting we talked about many sensitive issues regarding the state interests. We were talking after that [August] meeting with the Parliamentary Chairman, Prime Minister, Interior Minister that we have shared with you a lot of confidential information about the issues regarding state interests – about our self-defense capacities, foreign political contacts. I want to express appreciation about the fact that not a single of this sensitive information has been leaked in media. Of course, during this period of time we were criticizing much each other, but the most important what we have achieved is that where there are state interests and not simply political struggle, all the participants of this wide range of political spectrum showed the state-oriented thinking which is has been unusual up to now for Georgia. Now, we all should establish such thinking as a rule. I want to thank everybody for it.

Of course, there are various priorities. Here are the people, who slam us, who criticize us very harshly but what is the most important, we should find a common framework on major issues. You also know that we are cooperating in frames of the election commission.

Of course, there always are people, who want to repeat and replicate propaganda of Georgia’s enemy, as they think that this is the road towards their political success. It is their choice. I will never tell any politician bad words whatever their behavior may be, because I believe that we all are Georgians and we should take care of each other. We should better refrain from making sharp statements, especially it concerns the government.
 
Of course, there are people, who think that radicalism and fixating to their own position is the only way towards success. I want to say that whenever the government tried to do so and – I want also to say this about myself – we have always lost and frankly speaking, the same has happened in respect of most of you.

One thing is quite clear that shooting at each other and radical slogans has brought nothing good. On the other hand, in the recent months our people showed as very well that regardless of how radical we may be, nobody will let violence and nobody will let crossing of red line.

It was the order of our people towards the government to show openness, flexibility, compromises and to listen to even the most radical political opponents.

We cannot hold public [NSC] sessions because we have some secrets, which cannot be shared to our enemies, and our enemy is very strong and cruel, the occupant is very strong and cruel and is waiting to snatch some information; this is the session of NSC and its working part will be behind the closed doors.

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