Shevardnadze proposes new government structure

(13 May 2001)

1. Wide shot of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia
2. Pan of city Tbilisi
3. Exterior of Georgian Parliament
4. Parliament in session
5. President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze
6. SOUNDBITE (Georgian) Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia
"Taking into consideration the core needs of our country, I'm here to suggest a creation of the cabinet of ministers. Our country still has huge problems that we are unable to solve. Common people are justly accusing us in failing to improve the situation. If we want to overcome economic hardships we need to create a new, efficient government."
7. Parliament deputies
8. Mid shot of parliament
9. Parliament
10. Close up of Shevardnadze as he embraces a priest
11. Deputies
12. Shevardnadze shakes hands with deputies
13. SOUNDBITE:(Georgian) Vakhtang Khamaladze, Parliament opposition member
"All these new amendments remind me strongly of the 'Russian model' that is nothing else but the model of the authoritarian country"
15. SOUNDBITE:(Georgian) Vano Merabishvili, pro-Shevardnadze party parliament member
"I think this initiative is very timely since the introduction of the prime minister post will make coordination between different branches of power a lot more efficient"
16. Mid shot of Tbilisi street
17. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) vox pop Georgy (first name only)
"One might suspect that this new government will turn out to be, on one hand, weak and not independent, and, on the other, a good place to get rich quick."
18. Streets of Tbilisi

STORYLINE:

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze addressed the Parliament on Saturday asking for a change in the constitution to introduce the post of prime minister.

Georgia, a former Soviet Union republic that gained an independence in 1991, currently has no prime minister or cabinet.

Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, who was elected Georgia's president in 1995 and re-elected last year, combines the roles of head of state and head of government.

Shevardnadze is widely credited for clamping down on rampant street crime and stopping the wars with separatists in Georgian provinces of Abkhasia and South Ossetia.

But the economic situation in the country remains dire.

Georgia's economy has spiraled downward after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 as agriculture and industry dried up from lack of investment and a breakdown in trading routes. A civil war and rampant corruption have largely frightened away foreign investors

Latest in a string of bad news, the International Monetary Fund have announced on Thursday that it will suspend payment on a 12 (m) million U-S dollar loan installment to Georgia because of poor tax collection.

The payment was part of the fund's 141 (m) million U-S dollars, interest-free loan to the Caucasus Mountain country to combat poverty and encourage economic growth.

Shevarnadze told the Parliament on Saturday that the time has come to change the situation.

Among his proposals aimed at creation of a more efficient governing structure, was a suggestion to create a post of prime minister, a cabinet and a government answerable to the president and parliament.

While parliament factions have reacted to the President's ideas in a partisan manner, with opposition accusing Shevardnadze in curbing freedoms and president supporters praising his wisdom, people on the streets of Tbilisi have expressed their pessimism in ability of Georgian authorities to change situation for the better.

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