Saakashvili says not planning to leave country after end of presidency
KYIV. Nov 28 (Interfax) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says he has no intention to leave his country after his presidency expires.
"First, my term will expire in a year. This is a long period of time, and things change in Georgia very quickly. Perhaps it takes more time in Ukraine and this process is slower. But the [Georgian] people's attitudes change very quickly. Therefore, I will not go anywhere from Georgia. I love my country, will remain there and will belong to my country," Saakashvili said in an interview shown on the Ukrainian television Channel 5 on Tuesday evening.
The Georgian people do not expect new arrests from the new government and the Georgian Dream coalition, which recently won parliamentary elections, but they do expect that they will deliver on their election promises, he said.
Saakashvili suggested there are no grounds for former Prime Minister and Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili's prosecution.
"Everybody knows who Merabishvili is, and everybody knows that he has not stolen a single dollar or any other money. He doesn't care about money at all. There are people who are idealists and do not pursue any personal benefit. Some have been proposed to go abroad, they have gone there and are having hard times. But I know that this is a person who sacrificed himself, and this is normal for a public servant. If you want to change the country, this is what you have to do," he said.
Merabishvili has set up a system that has made Georgia one of the safest and least corrupt countries in Europe, Saakashvili said. "And those who were dismissed then have returned to the government now. And a lot of these people want revenge," he said.