CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY:

Shevardnadze toppled by his political offspring (Straits Times, NOV 25, 2003)

Like Shakespeare's tragic hero King Lear, 75-year-old Eduard Shevardnadze was ruined by those he loved the most.

The young opposition leaders who toppled him from Georgia's presidency last weekend were people he had befriended, nurtured and launched on their political careers before they turned against him.

At the climax of the drama, these opposition leaders who had been spearheading the protests invited themselves to his official residence just outside the capital to demand that he step down.

Sitting across the table from the Georgian leader at that meeting were three politicians whom Mr Shevardnadze had done more than anyone to create.

This story really does seem a tragedy. To the extent that any Soviet leader deserves credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union it would seem to be Mr. Shevvadnadze, who harbored few of Gorbachev's delusions that the system could be reformed and saved and who had the courage to resign when Gorbachev moved towards reimposing strict dictatorship. Alas, he stayed to long at the ball and retires in disgrace. In the final irony, he was shown the door by Russia and America working in concert.

MORE:
In Georgia, high hopes, hurdles: Acting president Nino Burjanadze pledged Monday to hold new elections within 45 days. (Scott Peterson, 11/25/03, CS Monitor)

Led by interim president Nino Burjanadze, today's leaders - who were yesterday's opposition - will have to move immediately, analysts say, to balance Georgian dreams with the harsh realities of the dysfunctional kleptocracy Mr. Shevardnadze left behind. [...]

The new leadership is focused on efforts to "move forward" with the economy, says a Western diplomat, though corruption remains a "very difficult issue." Graft permeates the Caucasus nation from the top, on down to the cops on the street, who, paid just $25 to $30 per month, take fines from motorists, send a portion "up the ranks," and then use the cash to "put bread on the table for their children," the diplomat says. Customs officials, he adds, are "presented with enormous temptations."

It's issues like these that most rankle Georgians, despite weightier strategic questions about Georgia's possible suitability for EU membership or its role in a long-standing regional tug-of-war for influence between the US and Russia. "All Shevardnadze did was the deeds of a dictator, who uses his power for his own profit," says David Kikilashvili, a former factory worker, who was among those tending dying fires outside the parliament building Monday at dawn, as street cleaners began sweeping up the garbage left after Georgia's wild victory party just hours earlier. "Salaries, pensions, jobs. Nothing is working now."

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 24, 2003 7:16 PM