Death of a moderniser

The tragic death of 41 year old Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhvania came one day before the appointment of a new Prime Minister today in the Ukraine, 44 year old Yulia Timoshenko. Both champions of anti-corruption movements and leaders of recent successful popular uprisings in their respective countries. Jean Christophe Peuch from Radio Free Europe says that the Prime Minister's sudden death is likely to alter the balance of forces in the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili in favor of its more radical elements. A Maltese former member of parliament Dennis Sammut has been active in Georgia for the last twelve years and was a personal friend of Zurab Zhvania. As executive director of LINKS, a London based NGO active in the Caucasus, Dennis Sammut yesterday issued the following statement:

"I heard with great sadness and shock of the tragic death of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr Zurab Zhvania, in Tbilisi last night. I knew Zurab Zhvania since 1992 and over the years we worked together on many issues connected with the political future of Georgia and the South Caucasus. He was a true friend to me, as well as to LINKS over many years.

I always considered Zurab Zhvania to be an outstanding politician and one of the most enlightened and visionary personalities to emerge out of the collapse of the USSR. He was in the vanguard of the reformist wing of Georgian politics throughout his political life. He believed passionately in modernising Georgian society and in the building of a strong, peaceful Georgia. He valued tolerance and believed in the peaceful solution of problems.

In this sad and difficult moment on behalf of all the Directors, Staff and collaborators of LINKS I would like to extend my sincere condolences to his wife and children, his mother, as well as to his colleagues in the Georgian government."

Zurab Zhvania obituary from the UK's Times

BBC Country Profile: Georgia

Dennis Sammut speaks about the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict - BBC news