Reports emerged on June 17 that Nino Burjanadze was planning to set up a Democracy Foundation aimed at developing democratic institutions in the country.

The reports emerged a few hours before Burjanadze is expected to speak about her plans in a prearranged live interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster later on June 17. It will be her first interview since quitting the ruling party in April. She has kept a low profile since then.

Some commentators, as well as some opposition politicians, have suggested that Burjanadze was unlikely to remain politically aloof for long. The proposed Foundation, they have said, would serve as a grassroots organization that eventually might evolve into a political party.

A ruling party lawmaker, Pavle Kublashvili, however, said he was sure the Foundation would be apolitical.

“I heard about this report today from journalists; let’s wait for Nino Burjanadze’s statement and then we can make conclusions or comments about the role this Foundation may have in ongoing processes in the country and on what level it may be political. I am sure that if the Foundation is set up it will have very concrete goals, which will not be linked with the political processes,” Kublashvili, the chair of the parliamentary committee for legal affairs, told Mze TV.

Georgian media sources have also reported that Giorgi Margvelashvili, the research coordinator at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), is, along with some others, set to join the Foundation. He declined to comment, saying he was not in a position to speak about the matter before Burjanadze’s statement.