GEORGIA: ANOTHER TOP DIPLOMAT LEAVES SAAKASHVILI TEAM (eurasianet.org)

By Jean-Christophe Peuch 2/09/09

A wind of revolt is blowing among Georgian diplomats. Two months after the defection of Irakli Alasania, Tbilisi’s envoy to the United Nations, it’s now the turn of Viktor Dolidze, the Georgian ambassador to Austria and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

On February 4, the 35-year-old diplomat revealed that he was resigning. In an interview he gave EurasiaNet before returning to Tbilisi, Dolidze said that he is no longer in tune with the Saakashvili administration and that he is considering defecting to the opposition. "I cannot go against my principles; I cannot continue working under the leadership of a president and a government I do not believe in," he said.

He added that he will "most likely" join the team of his "childhood friend" Alasania, whom many in Georgia see as a potential candidate in the country’s next presidential election.

Alasania resigned in early December, blaming the Georgian government for letting itself "get dragged" into the August war with Russia. He has called for early presidential elections and announced plans to form his own "political team" and cooperate with Saakashvili’s main opponents. Yet, he has not said whether he would himself run for president in an early election.

Dolidze says he favors both early presidential and legislative polls. "Presidential elections should take place before parliament is renewed because with the current administration there would be no guarantee with regard to the transparency of a parliamentary ballot," he told EurasiaNet.

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