Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich

I

Introduction

Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich (1928- ), Georgian politician, who became Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1985, and, after the dissolution of the USSR, Chairman (1992-1996) and later President (1995-2003) of the independent republic of Georgia.

II

Early Career

Born in Mamati, Georgia, he was educated at the state pedagogical institute in K'ut'aisi. Shevardnadze's early career was marked by a steady rise through the ranks of the Komsomol, the Communist youth organization, from 1946 to 1957. He joined the Communist Party in 1948 and became a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1959. He subsequently advanced to the post of Georgia's Minister of Internal Affairs (1968-1972).

Shevardnadze's campaign against crime and political corruption caught the attention of central government officials in Moscow, who appointed him First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party in 1972. He was appointed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR in 1976. One day after he joined the Politburo in 1985, he was nominated Minister of Foreign Affairs for the USSR. His close personal and ideological ties to party chairman Mikhail Gorbachev (later president of the USSR from 1988 to 1991) probably influenced his nomination.

III

The End of the USSR

As foreign minister, Shevardnadze oversaw a transformation of Soviet international relations, improving relations with the West while reducing support for Communism within the Warsaw Pact and elsewhere. Shevardnadze was a strong supporter of the withdrawal of the Soviet military from the Afghanistan War, which was completed in February 1989. He also promoted an arms-reduction policy that accepted unequal cuts in superpower arsenals. He was instrumental in preliminary negotiations for the summit meetings between Gorbachev and United States President Ronald Reagan in Switzerland (1985) and Iceland (1986); the Iceland summit was a breakthrough in relations between the USSR and the United States and led to unprecedented arms-control agreements.

In 1990 Shevardnadze resigned as foreign minister to alert the Soviet parliament that a military dictatorship was impending. He was reappointed foreign minister in November 1991 after the unsuccessful coup attempt against Gorbachev, and he served until the USSR was dissolved the following month. In 1992 Shevardnadze was chosen as acting chairman of the State Council of the newly independent republic of Georgia, and later that year he was elected chairman by direct referendum after winning around 90 per cent of the popular vote.

IV

President of Georgia

After Georgian independence, Shevardnadze became deeply involved in a dispute with separatists in the semi-autonomous republic of Abkhazia, located in the north-west of the country. As chairman of the State Council, he sent Georgian troops there, supposedly as a preventive measure to protect Abkhazia from military forces supporting former Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. In July 1993 Shevardnadze agreed to a Russian-sponsored ceasefire agreement, which was broken by the Abkhazians in September. The rebels captured Sokhumi, the region's capital, and drove Georgian forces and over 200,000 Georgian refugees from the province. In March 1994 Shevardnadze supported a ceasefire agreement that allowed for the return of non-combatants to Abkhazia, but vowed eventually to return Abkhazia to Georgian control.

The war against Abkhazian secession was accompanied by several important political developments. In order to gain Russian support in Abkhazia, Shevardnadze agreed to enrol Georgia in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in October 1993. Political opponents protested at the decision to join the CIS, which prompted Shevardnadze to form a new political party, the Citizens' Union of Georgia, in November 1993. Political opponents also objected to a military cooperation treaty with Russia, signed by Shevardnadze in February 1994, granting Russia the right to maintain and operate three bases on Georgian territory. In March 1994 Shevardnadze called for the restoration of the office of the president, which had been abolished after the overthrow of Gamsakhurdia in January 1992. Following further military agreements with Russia, he survived an assassination attempt in August 1995. With a new presidential constitution in place, he was elected president with over 70 per cent of the poll in November 1995, while his Citizens' Union of Georgia secured victory in elections to the National Assembly. A fresh assassination attempt in February 1998 was blamed by Shevardnadze on Russian attempts to gain control of Caucasian oil resources.

Another coup attempt was uncovered in May 1999, aimed at removing the country's entire leadership—pro-Russian forces who aimed to halt Georgia's increasing integration with Europe were again blamed by the government. Shevardnadze's ruling Citizens' Union of Georgia captured a clear victory in legislative elections in October with about 42 per cent of the vote. In the presidential election of April 2000 Shevardnadze received a massive personal endorsement in securing nearly 80 per cent of the vote. During his campaign he promised to tackle corruption and poverty. Problems caused by unreliable power supplies continued, leading to mass protests in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi in November. These were only exacerbated when Russia briefly suspended gas supplies in January 2001 in response to allegations that Georgians were sheltering Chechen rebels. Shevardnadze pledged to find a solution to the problems, blaming corruption and mistakes in the privatization process.

He declared in August that he would not attempt to secure a third term as president, regarding such a move as unconstitutional. In September he signed an agreement with neighbouring Azerbaijan that would allow the passage of a gas pipeline across Georgia from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, which it was hoped would be a major boost to the Georgian economy. A bungled security forces raid in November on a television station that had been critical of Shevardnadze's policies led to the president sacking his entire Cabinet, as his hold on power became increasingly tenuous. Tensions increased over continued Russian belligerence regarding alleged Chechen incursions into the Pankisi gorge in Georgia. Georgian troops, trained by the United States military, were able to declare the gorge free of rebels and a summit between Shevardnadze and Russian president Vladimir Putin in November defused the situation.

Legislative elections were held in Georgia in November 2003. While official results claimed that For a New Georgia, a bloc of parties supporting Shevardnadze, had won, there were reports of widespread electoral fraud. The opposition organized huge demonstrations in Tbilisi demanding that the election be rerun and protesting at the endemic corruption that had characterized Shevardnadze’s presidency. By the time that Shevardnadze declared a state of emergency later in the month it was clear that he had little support in the army and police. He resigned as president on November 23. The presidential election of January 2004 was won by Mikhail Saakashvili, one of the leaders of the November demonstrations, for whom Shevardnadze himself voted.