Resignations in Georgia will have foreign-policy implications, political experts believe

The resignation of Irakli Alasaniya from the post of Minister of Defence and his announcement about the withdrawal of his party "Free Democrats" from the ruling coalition have resulted of the attempts to correct the country's pro-Western course, Georgian political analysts believe.

Soso Tsiskarishvili, a Doctor of History and the President of the "Club of Independent Experts", sees the influence of Moscow in these changes. Now, the foreign-policy vector depends on the Republican Party of Georgia, Khatuna Lagazidze, the co-chair of the Institute of European Values, is sure. On the contrary, Giya Khukhashvili, the former economic adviser of the former prime minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili, believes that the crisis of the coalition "Georgian Dream" promotes the political pluralism in the country.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after his resignation Alasaniya stated that Georgia is in political crisis; and on November 5, he said that the "Free Democrats" Party, headed by him, had quitted the ruling coalition "Georgian Dream". Alasaniya's dismissal was followed by resignations, on their own initiative, of Alexi Petriashvili, the State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; Maia Panjikidze, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia; and Levan Dolidze, the representative of Georgia to the NATO.

Ms Lagazidze is convinced that the West will not like the dismissal of Alasaniya and appointment of "a person known by nobody and giving no contacts with the NATO" instead.

Elena Khoshtariya, a political scientist and the founder of the "Association of Georgia's Reforms", believes that Alasaniya's resignation was a result of attempts to inhibit the pro-Western course of Georgia.

Gela Vasadze, the Board Chairman of the NGO "Free Zone", believes that the crisis burst out among the ranks of the "Georgian Dream", not within the Georgian authorities as a whole.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.