Official Version of Zhvania’s Death Questioned, as Saakashvili Prepares to Nominate New PM

Constitutional Changes Ruled Out

President Saakashvili will nominate late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania’s successor on February 9. Meanwhile, Georgian officials try to dissolve growing public suspicion in officially announced reasons of Zhvania’s death. To boost public confidence, Tbilisi invited the FBI into the investigation. The FBI team has already arrived in Tbilisi, Georgian officials say.

Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze met President Saakashvili late on February 7 to discuss the nomination of a new Prime Minister. She said after the talks that Saakashvili has not yet made a final decision; but added, that the President has several “very interesting” possible candidates on his mind.

“This [candidate] should be a person who will be acceptable for the President, for the Parliament and for the society as well,” Nino Burjanadze said.

Nino Burjanadze denied rumors that the President offered her the position of Prime Minister. Georgian media is speculating about the wide array of the possible Prime Ministerial candidate, but the number of possibilities discussed shows that Saakashvili’s announcement may well become a surprise.

These media speculations mainly involve the following people: State Minister Kakha Bendukidze, Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, Chairman of the Supreme Court Kote Kemularia, Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili. Some reports say that Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli, who was a long-time ally of late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania might also be nominated for this position. However, none of these officials have confirmed these reports.

Death of Zurab Zhvania has also sparked speculations that the President will initiate constitutional changes in an attempt to either reduce the Prime Minister’s powers, or abolish the position completely. But Nino Burjanadze has also dismissed these reports. She told reporters on February 7 that, although the current constitution is “transitional,” no immediate changes are expected. She added, the Constitution “will be amended sometime in the future, but not now.” 
 
Observers say that the controversial constitutional amendments passed by the Parliament exactly a year ago on February 6, 2004, were largely a result of power-sharing agreement between Mikheil Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania, mainly drafted to personally fit the profiles of these two politicians and, to a certain extent, for Nino Burjanadze as well.

Circumstances of Death Questioned
 
Meanwhile, the official reason behind Zurab Zhvania’s death, which was described as “a tragic accident,” is being questioned by a great deal of ordinary Georgian citizens.

Georgian Deputy General Prosecutor Giorgi Janashia announced that a team from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrived in Tbilisi to help the Georgian investigators to probe into Zhvania’s death, as well as into the car bomb explosion in Gori on February 3, which killed three policemen and injured 27 other people.

News about the FBI’s involvement in the investigation broke on February 7, when U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles told the Associated Press that the experts from the FBI will probe these two cases; however, he also added that “we don’t find these two events linked.” Miles also said he was unaware of the existence of evidence indicating Zhvania’s death was anything other than an accident nor that is was connected to the Gori bombing.

But family members of Raul Usupov, who was found dead with Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania in an apartment in Tbilisi, are among those who question the official statements describing the circumstances behind Usupov’s death.

Yashir Usupov, father of Raul, says that he even doubts his son died in the apartment, where the two bodies were found. He denied official reports that his son had rented the apartment, adding that he did not know anything about this.

According to the official reports, the apartment where Zurab Zhvania and Raul Usupov were found dead was rented only a few months earlier by Raul Usupov, who was about to become the Deputy Governor of the Kvemo Kartli region. Officials say that two men died of carbon monoxide poisoning, caused by a faulty gas heating devise, which was installed in the apartment.

The Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) questions the motives behind government’s insistence on a single official version – that of an accident. Independent forensic expert Maia Nokolaishvili added fuel to suspicions stating that the symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning can be caused by chemical substances. The journalists also indicate inconsistencies in the police and official reports regarding the circumstances of death. The Rezonansi suggests that by describing Zhvania’s death as “a tragic accident” the government might be trying to avoid destabilization and tensions in the country.

Meanwhile, officials refuse to unveil the name of a person with whom Zurab Zhvania talked with on his mobile phone at 1:20 am local time on February 3. Tbilisi-based Imedi television reported that Georgia’s Ambassador to the United States Levan Mikeladze was the last person with whom Zhvania held talks with on the phone; however officials refuse to comment on this report.