Word: powers
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Saakashvili still has the immense talent for communication that made him an international celebrity when he took power after 2003's bloodless Rose Revolution. He's an imposing man - at 6 ft. 4 in. (193 cm), he is the tallest Georgian I saw until we watched the national basketball team beat Belarus - with a polyglot charisma. At various times throughout the week, he spoke to me in Russian, Spanish and - above all - his famous English, an enthusiastic tumble of idiomatic American that he learned while studying and practicing law in New York City and Washington. (See pictures of the Russians...
...handkerchief. But these tics are a small price to pay for his biggest asset: his tremendous, limitless energy. Columbia's Mitchell calls it "government by adrenaline." Saakashvili is addicted to quick, dramatic acts of leadership. Particularly in the early years, he got results. One example: when he came to power, Georgia's traffic police were notorious bribe seekers. So he fired every one of them and hired an entirely new, clean police force...
Troubles at Home Saakashvili's grand plans don't impress his opponents. They think that he - like most other leaders in this part of the world - is power-mad. The media and judiciary still aren't nearly independent enough. The opposition, whom Vice Prime Minister Temuri Yakobashvili dismissed as "losers, naifs and traitors," says it is persecuted for its dissent. "This energy and force [Saakashvili] has inside is a rare quality," says Sozar Subari, who was until recently Georgia's public defender. "But unfortunately, he used this to strengthen autocracy, not democracy...
...ticket. Allowing such well-respected statesmen to run a free campaign would instantly legitimize the idea of multiparty democracy in Georgia. It would also set the stage for something many critics still doubt Saakashvili can deliver: a credible presidential election in 2013, followed by a peaceful transfer of power...
...Power Dispute Electrifies...