Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed a program to address the conflict between the new and the former authorities of Georgia in his New Year televised message, expressing willingness to cooperate with the ruling coalition, Georgia Online reported.

President Saakashvili's program consists of five items. These include an end to the aggressive rhetoric on both sides; cessation of arrests of former officials; joint efforts of both sides -- implying Saakashvili's team and Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's bloc Georgian Dream, which has a majority in parliament -- to prevent disruption of the country's integration into NATO and the EU. The proposal also envisions termination of actions in some areas demanding change of local government leaders and joint convening by the president and prime minister of an international conference in the capital Tbilisi aimed at attracting new investors.

Saakashvili called on the new government to start fulfillment of campaign promises and be less engaged in persecution of former government officials.

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili a couple hours before Saakahsvili`s address called 2012 "the year of the Georgian people's victory over Saakashvili's regime." In his New Year address to the nation aired on Georgian TV on Tuesday night, he stated that "the regime of Saakashvili was based on lies, violence and PR."

"Saakashvili's team has managed to convince many in the West recently that Georgia was supposedly a 'beacon of democracy', while in reality all of these were their PR," Ivanishvili said. He also noted that "victory in the October 1 parliamentary elections was won by the Georgian people, who voted for change in the country."

The election was followed by the formation of a new cabinet in Georgia in which Ivanishvili now serves as prime minister.

Earlier, Ivanishvili announced the ending of the criminal prosecution of the country's former officials, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

"The process has been completed. The system of violence and lies is defeated, and now we must forgive all those who, by their own choice or not, participated in this system. We must forgive them and come up with something like amnesty," Ivanishvili said.

After gaining victory in the October parliamentary elections, Ivanishvili`s government started the process of criminal prosecution of former officials and members of Saakashvili's United National Movement party.

During the past two months, a former defense minister and other law enforcement officials, former ministers of finance and energy, education, justice, former employees of Tbilisi city hall and other agencies have been detained. Most of them were charged with abuse of power. Some of the detainees have been released under court rulings.