Ivane Merabishvili (born April 15, 1968) is a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 politician who has served as the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs

Ministry of Internal Affairs (Georgia)

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia is a state law enforcement agency of the Republic of Georgia.As of 2011 Vano Merabishvili is the minister...

 since December 18, 2004. A former NGO activist, he became directly involved in Georgia's politics in 1999 and emerged as one of the government's most influential members after the 2003 Rose Revolution

Rose Revolution

The "Revolution of Roses" was a change of power in Georgia in November 2003, which took place after having widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections...

.

Education and NGO career

Merabishvili was born in the village Ude in what is now Samtskhe-Javakheti region

Mkhare

Mkhare is a subdivision in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as region.The country is divided, according to the Presidential decrees from 1994 to 1996, into regions on a provisional basis until the secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are resolved...

 in south Georgia, then a Soviet republic. He graduated from the Georgian Technical University

Georgian Technical University

Georgian Technical University – GTU , now Technical University of Georgia is main and largest technical university of Georgia, it is located in the capital city of Tbilisi.- History :...

 in 1992 with a degree from the Faculty of Mining. After his schooling he held several positions at the Technical University and at the Institute of Agriculture of Georgia before becoming a president of the Association for Protection of Landowners' Rights

Association for Protection of Landowners' Rights

The Association for Protection of Landowners' Rights is Georgian non-governmental, not-for-profit organization. The mandate of the organization is to facilitate the development, regulation and transparency of Georgian land markets...

 in 1995 and a co-founder of the Liberty Institute

Liberty Institute (Georgia)

Liberty Institute is a Georgian research and advocacy organization affiliated with Ilia Chavchavadze State University.Liberty has always been the cornerstone of established Georgian values. It has been transformed into classical liberal tradition by Ilia Chavchavadze...

 in 1996.

Member of Parliament

Merabishvili's direct involvement with politics began in November 1999 when he was elected to the Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia

Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...

 on the party ticket of the President

President of Georgia

The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...

 Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...

-chaired Union of Citizens of Georgia

Union of Citizens of Georgia

The Union of Citizens of Georgia is a centre-left political party established by Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia between 1992-2003 and David Chantladze, former General Trade Representative of Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia...

 (UCG). Merabishvili was a member of an influential and vocal, yet small, group of the UCG faction, known as “reformers” which was led by Zurab Zhvania

Zurab Zhvania

Zurab Zhvania was a prominent Georgian politician, having served as Prime Minister of Georgia and Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia as well as Minister without Portfolio. Zhvania assumed premiership on 18 February 2004 and remained on the position until his death on 3 February 2005...

 and Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili

Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...

 and which called for more radical and Western

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

-oriented political reforms.

In April 2001, with the simmering split in the UCG, Merabishvili, then a chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Policy, became the first and, at that time, the only leading member of the party openly to criticise Shevardnadze. In an interview with the Washington Post, Merabisvhili claimed Shevardnadze was “tired” and lacked the political will to fight corruption. Shevardnadze downplayed the criticism, attributing Merabishvili’s statement to the latter's youth and inexperience.

In 2002, Merabishvili became Secretary General of Mikheil Saakashvili’s newly formed opposition National Movement. He was energetically involved in the protest movement following the November 2003 parliamentary elections which led to Shevardnadze’s resignation in the bloodless Rose Revolution.

Government minister

After Saakashvili’s ascent to presidency, Merabishvili served as the National Security Advisor and Secretary of the National Security Council from January 26 until June 7, 2004 when he was appointed as Minister of State Security. On December 18, 2004, the Ministry of State Security was merged with that of Internal Affairs of which Merabishvili was placed in charge. As the interior minister, Merabishvili presided over the police

Law enforcement in Georgia (country)

Law enforcement in Georgia is conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. In the last few years, the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has undergone a radical transformation...

 reform and crackdown on criminal bosses, the so-called "thieves in law

Thief in law

Thief in law is a criminal who is respected, has authority and a high ranking status within the...

". The police has been accused of using excessive force and heavy-handed tactics in the process, which Merabishvili denied to be the case.

In 2006, a controversy surrounding the murder of Sandro Girgvliani

Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case

The Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case is one of the most notorious criminal cases in the modern history of Georgia. The killing, and the events as a result of it, have generated heavy criticism of the current government, particularly the interior minister, and the extent to which reformist President...

, a 28-year-old commercial bank official whose tortured body was found on the outskirts of Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 on January 27 2006, had a significant political fallout and was at the forefront of several opposition attempts to force Merabishvili to resign. Girgvliani’s mother claimed interior ministry officials "masterminded my son’s murder" for insulting them and Tako Salaqaia, the Merabishvili's wife, during a café encounter in downtown Tbilisi that evening. The court case resulted in the conviction of four lower-level ministry officials but was heavily criticized by several independent observers and opposition parties as a cover up. During parliamentary hearings on February 28 2006, opposition parties criticized the ministry and walked out in protest.

Merabishvili himself accused the opposition parties of trying to use the Girgvliani murder case "for their political interests" and declared that he did not plan to resign.

Merabishvili has also been criticized for the conduct of police force during the November 2007 clash with opposition demonstrators

2007 Georgian demonstrations

The 2007 Georgian demonstrations were a series of anti-government protests in Georgia. The demonstrations peaked on November 2, 2007, when 50,000-100,000 rallied in downtown Tbilisi, capital of Georgia. People protested against the allegedly corrupt government of president Mikheil Saakashvili...

. Georgia's Public Defender (ombudsman

Ombudsman

An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...

) Sozar Subari

Sozar Subari

Sozar Subari is a Georgian journalist and human rights activist who served as a Public Defender of Georgia from 2004 to 2009....

 later claimed that a source had told him that Merabishvili was one of those who decided to use police to break-up the protest rally and personally ordered to beat the demonstrators. Merabishvili later dismissed Subari's allegations.

By late 2008, Merabishvili had become perhaps the most powerful figure in Georgia next to Saakashvili. The Interior Ministry enlarged its responsibilities, taking greater control of border police and was designated by Saakashvili to oversee use of the substantial international assistance for Georgians displaced following the August conflict

2008 South Ossetia war

The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....

 with Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. In a March 2009 interview with the Rustavi 2

Rustavi 2

Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company , better known as Rustavi 2, is the most successful private television broadcasting company in Georgia. The Rustavi, based in Tbilisi, was founded in 1994 in the town of Rustavi. It is a privately owned free to air terrestrial broadcaster that currently reaches around...

 TV, Merabishvili said the assumption that he was the most influential figure in the Saakashvili’s administration was "over-exaggerated", but confirmed that in some cases the President had given him broader tasks.

External links

• Merabishvili’s official biography. The Government of Georgia website