“We will do our best to maintain stability both in internal and external politics” to help overcome economic difficulties, President Saakashvili said on April 23. He also said that the authorities were ready to cooperate even with “the smallest” and “the most radical” political groups.
“Peace and stability is required for the development of business and economy, because not a single business will be attractive without stability; not a single investment will be made and not a single new working place will be created without stability,” he said at a televised meeting with employees of building materials factory outside Tbilisi.
“Instability always becomes a reason for losing existing jobs,” he continued. “Therefore, we will do our utmost to maintain peace in Georgia in order to prevent further bloodshed as a result of either external aggression or civil confrontation even if some people may dream about it.”
“We will do our best to maintain stability both in internal and external politics; creation of better environment for employment needs the unity of the society, it needs this unity like air, it needs cooperation between all political groups to defend the interests of our population and our country.”
“All politicians should put the interests of population and country above their personal interests. Therefore, we are ready for cooperation even with the smallest political group, even with the most radical one, even with those who are making the most unacceptable slogans because today Georgia needs unity and unified struggle, instead of confrontation and split,” he said.
Saakashvili said that “permanent fight against corruption” was required for creating conditions for economy development. “We will not weaken our struggle [against corruption] – nobody should have any illusion that corruption will ever again develop and flourish in Georgia,” he said.
“I know that very many people – those who were dismissed because of [involvement in] corruption… – are now angry and are quarrelling with us. There will be no compromise with these people. I do not regret even for a minute that such changes have taken place in police; I do not regret that I started imposing order in the customs service– we have confronted concrete groups, concrete clans and concrete influential persons and criminal structures to prevent them from stealing what belongs to Georgia.
In an interview with Newsweek published on April 11, President Saakashvili says, when asked who wanted his resignation: “Mostly unemployed people. We fired about 250,000 people as a result of our reforms. A big percentage of these people have not managed to find themselves in the new economy. Fighting corruption and crime, we put thousands of people in jail. In Tbilisi alone we convicted 8,000 people; all of their relatives are outside today, asking me to resign.”
And in an interview with the Russian weekly, Kommersant Vlast, published on April 20, an influential interior minister, Vano Merabishvili, said: “70% of those standing at the rally are former policemen and custom officers, who have been left without jobs and bribes.”
President Saakashvili also said on April 23 that “many people were unemployed and angry” and that he was angry about it too. He said that Georgia had a chance to overcome the economic difficulties and added that “patience… time and maintaining appropriate economic conditions” were required for that.
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