His scandalous revelations have shocked the public. The disgraced politician was detained by law-enforcement bodies under a plausible excuse - he was charged with corruption, abuse of office and money laundering.
This political collision would probably have turned into a smear war if it were not for his statement during a live presentation of the new political movement For United Georgia. This was not repentance but revelations of a once very powerful person, and they sounded convincing.
By and large, the opposition has not been popular in the last few years, but Okruashvili has drawn attention - he has all the makings of a strong leader who knows the situation at the top from within. Just a year ago, he was second only to the president and had a very high rating - probably too high. Many were stunned by his departure from big politics, while his return with an opposition shield and shocking revelations have not come as a surprise. The former Prosecutor General, Interior Minister, Defense Minister and Economy Minister, Okruashvili lashed out not only at his colleagues, but also his friends, including the president. He started with corruption and clan relations, and ended with contract murders and territorial conflicts.
At one time, Okruashvili was dubbed the leader of the war party. He said that he was going to celebrate the New Year of 2007 in Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway South Ossetia, but this did not happen. He said they had been planning a special operation there - not very big but effective. However, the president failed to issue an order as the Supreme Commander when the time had come.
Okruashvili thought about this for a year and decided to half open the Pandora box. In the early hours of September 27 the firing in South Ossetia had been as intense as it had not been since May of the last year when Okruashvili was still in power. Two hours of permanent fire from automatic weapons and mortars seemed to last for eternity, but there were no victims.
In the meantime, the Georgian president was speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York about ways of settling conflicts. He blamed the status quo in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict on Russian peacekeepers.
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin immediately responded to this statement by saying that they were carrying out their duty fully in line with the mandate.
Somewhat later, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called these accusations groundless. Okruashvili's revelations poured more oil on the flames, although he was not popular either in Russia or the West when he was in power.
The response of the Georgian opposition to the surprise appearance of the former terror of the political beau monde was somewhat muffled. The political circles were perplexed by his statements. Politicians from the ruling party tried to laugh it off, but the majority of opposition leaders disassociated themselves from Okruashvili's new political image.
His proposal to start from scratch remained unanswered. The media even wrote that his political marriage to the opposition was unlikely because their positions were poles apart. They recalled how Okruashvili built the repressive machine and ordered the loud midnight arrests of Shevardnadze officials when he was interior minister.
But the reason he was not accepted was not because of his previous sins. The emergence of a charismatic leader with national ideas, who could have a big following, does not suit either the authorities or the opposition in an equal measure. For all its ambitions the latter would be relegated to the background, and this is not what it wants. This is why the opposition leaders resorted to an excuse - Okruashvili cannot be trusted because he is one of them, even though he is in disgrace.
It is also possible that Okruashvili, concerned over the recent arrests of his friends - Governor of the Shida Kartli Region, Mikheil Kareli, and Parliamentary Secretary Dimitri Kitoshvili on corruption charges, decided to tell all simply in order to protect himself. Of all people, a former defense minister should know that attack is the best defense. He has not avoided arrest but it has drastically changed the public sentiments and the situation in the country. Although many blame him for his mistakes, they believe that his former sins have nothing to do with the government's recent steps. Okruashvili has united the opposition against the government rather than around himself.
The opposition leaders are now describing the government's actions towards Okruashvili as political terror. Nobody has mentioned the revolution so far. Now the opposition wants to introduce a new political practice - early presidential and parliamentary elections. The ways of reaching goals have remained the same - action near the parliament building. But this is only for the time being.
Mamuka Areshidze is director of the Caucasian Center of Strategic Research in Tbilisi, and member of the RIA Novosti Expert Council.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
