President Saakashvili praised Parliament for its endorsement of a proposal paving the way for the creation of a provisional administrative entity in South Ossetia. He said it was a “very important and principled decision.”

“In fact, we are taking a step which will, on the one hand, help us to establish and institutionalize autonomous rights of the Ossetian population of Georgia and on the other hand, will protect Georgia’s territorial integrity and eradicate external interference,” President Saakashvili said on April 5.

He noted that it will be achieved through “compromises, flexible talks and based on the interests of all parties.”

The Parliament, on its first reading on April 5, approved the “Draft Law on Creating Appropriate Conditions for Peaceful Resolution of Conflict in Former Autonomous District of South Ossetia” with 165 votes to two. All the major political parties supported the proposal.

“It is very important that this process has been supported by all the major political forces and this is the most important trend that is taking place in Georgia within recent years,” Saakashvili said.

He noted that near unanimous support means that state interests are prevailing over the private ambitions of major political groups in the country.

“Today, the Georgian Parliament clearly demonstrated that Georgia does not act out a script written by others, that our political groups, first and foremost, are our political groups and not a group of politicians dancing to tunes sung by others,” he added.

Saakashvili admitted, however, that that recent moves brought with them some challenges.

“But we will pass this road to the end, although we know that we will encounter numerous obstacles on the way, including provocations,” he said.
 
The president said he expected the draft law to pass all stages by next week.

We plan to continue an intensive dialogue on the ground with the representatives of absolutely all political groups, as well as with international organizations; we also plan to heighten security in order to deter provocations,” Saakashvili added.