Parliamentary inquiry: Vice Speaker says Army's protection from political manipulation “key”

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament and Chair of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Parliament examining alleged crimes committed by the former United National Movement Government between 2003 and 2012, on Thursday said the Georgian Dream Government's approach was not for the army to become a “victim” in the hands of politicians.

The Commission reviews the situation in Georgia’s Russian occupied territories between 2004 and 2008 and the 2008 August war with Russia.

In her remarks at a session of the Commission, Tsulukiani highlighted the “self-sacrifice” of the Georgian army during the 2008 war with Russia, adding that “when there was no leadership, the soldiers fulfilled their duty to their homeland, that is, before God”.

She also emphasised the duty of politicians not to recklessly involve the military in processes that would lead to heavy losses.

“We have no plans for politicians to execute military strategies. God forbid we ever need to. These plans should exist where military professionals work - that is the purpose of defence institutions. However, under our Government, as a political will to implement this plan, we do not have and will not have it. This is precisely the approach that we do not want the army to become a victim in the hands of politicians”, the Vice Speaker said.

“The decision of August 7 was a political one. It seems that, at least since 2007, this decision had been in the making, and the army and officers were sent into a pre-lost war under a flawed military strategy and operations - into a war that made little sense, not least because it did not follow a proper military plan, and, as it turns out, Vano Merabishvili [the former Interior Minister] was the one leading the war efforts. This plan probably exists, and the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff are there so that a plan exists, although I hope this plan also includes an evacuation plan, and we will ask the next guests whether they had a plan for the evacuation of citizens, but it is the duty of politicians not to recklessly involve the military in processes that will lead to great losses”, she continued.

At the same time, she highlighted that the ruling Georgian Dream party Government had gathered evidence to defend both the dignity of Georgian soldiers and the state in the International Criminal Court.

“We discussed at length yesterday how civilians were abandoned. Now we learn that as early as November 2007 and February 2008, it was already known that something might happen, yet civilians were still left there, left to face Russia alone”, Tsulukiani noted.

Tsulukiani concluded by emphasising the need for military contingency plans but stressed that responsible leadership must ensure such plans never become a necessity.