Business and media tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili outlined his foreign and domestic policy preferences in a written document disseminated through InterPressNews agency on October 17.

The document was issued on the same day a group of ten opposition parties unveiled their policy priorities in a joint manifesto.

Patarkatsishvili, who co-owns Tbilisi-based Imedi TV, is at the center of the current political standoff between the opposition and the authorities.

In a four-page document, Patarkatsishvili says that he believes Georgia should be a federal state.

“The central authorities should only be in charge of defense and the economy. All the rest should be delegated to the regions,” he said.

He also said Georgia should move from the current presidential to a parliamentary system of government with a two-chamber parliament. Patriarch of Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II’s proposal for a constitutional monarchy, Patarkatsishvili said, “is worth the public’s attention.”

In terms of foreign policy, Patarkatsishvili says: “Georgia has no friends, it has only interests.”

“Georgia’s foreign policy should meet the interests of only our country and our people,” he says. “Georgia has two major foreign policy interests – Russia and the United States.”

He then continues: “However aggressive Russia might be it is our neighbor. However strong the United States might be it is beyond the ocean. The United States is strong and friendly, but it is too far, while Russia is aggressive, it is close to us.”

Patarkatsishvili said that Georgia’s foreign policy should be based on “a policy of balancing.”

“In this context, Georgia’s NATO membership and integration into the EU is fully in line with the Georgian people’s interests. Although this process should not occur at the expanse of others’ interests,” he added.