Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Georgia
Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgian: მიხეილ სააკაშვილი Mikheil Saak’ashvili [miχɛjl sɑːkʼɑʃʷili]; Ukrainian: Міхеіл Саакашвілі [m⁽ʲ⁾ixeˈil sɐɐkɐʃˈwil⁽ʲ⁾i]; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third President of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. From May 2015 until November 2016, Saakashvili was the Governor of Ukraine's Odessa Oblast. He is the founder and former chairman of the United National Movement party. Saakashvili heads the Executive Committee of Ukraine's National Reform Council since 7 May 2020.Involved in Georgian politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president in January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in the November 2003 bloodless "Rose Revolution" led by Saakashvili and his political allies, Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Zhvania. He was re-elected in the Georgian presidential election on 5 January 2008. Saakashvili pledged to implement swift reforms to align Georgia with Western liberal democracies, end a period of widespread corruption and government inefficiency, topple the crime and re-assert sovereignty over the whole Georgian territory. This led to rapid privatisation, massive layoffs in the public sector and a spike in the incarceration rates. Tensions rose with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway republics which fought separatist wars against Georgia in 1990s, culminating in the Five-Day War in 2008 with the involvement of Russia. While economic growth reached unprecedented level during Saakashvili's first term (averaging GDP increase of 10% a year), it remained largely non-inclusive. Saakashvili's foreign policy was characterized by pro-NATO and pro-EU politics. In 2010, he had a 67% approval rating. However, it was objected that his reforms were mostly enforced top-down failing to achieve public consent, and although his policies led to a drastic reduction in crime and corruption, they resulted in a police state where opposition was suppressed and inmates were abused in prisons.On 2 October 2012, Saakashvili admitted his party's defeat in Georgia's parliamentary election against the Georgian Dream coalition led by the tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili and pledged not to obstruct the constitutional process of forming a new government, marking the first-ever peaceful transition of power in Georgia since it declared independence. He was barred by the constitution of Georgia from seeking a third term in the 2013 presidential election, which was won by the Georgian Dream's candidate Giorgi Margvelashvili. Shortly after the election, Saakashvili left Georgia. Georgian Prosecutor's Office filed numerous criminal charges against Saakashvili. He continued to manage his party from abroad while accusing Georgian government of using the legal system as a tool of political retribution.
Saakashvili supported Ukraine's Euromaidan movement and the Revolution of Dignity. On 30 May 2015, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Saakashvili as Governor of Odessa Oblast. He was also granted Ukrainian citizenship, and due to restrictions on dual nationality under Georgian law, was stripped of his Georgian citizenship. On 7 November 2016, Saakashvili resigned as Governor while blaming President Poroshenko personally for enabling corruption in Odessa and in Ukraine overall. Four days later, he announced his goal to create a new political party called Movement of New Forces.On 26 July 2017, Saakashvili (at the time staying in the US) was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship by Petro Poroshenko, and became a stateless person. On 29 May 2019, he returned to Ukraine after newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky restored his citizenship. On 1 October 2021, Saakashvili claimed to have returned to Georgia after an eight-year absence, and called on his followers to march on the capital, Tbilisi. The Georgian police, however, claimed that Saakashvili had not crossed the country's border. He was arrested later on the same day in Tbilisi. According to the investigation, Saakashvili entered the country secretly in the container of a sea cargo ship, in violation of the law. President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili stated that she will "never" pardon Saakashvili. Later Zourabichvili confirmed her first statement again, while Saakashvili announced hunger strike joined by other members of his party.
On 10 October 2021, his personal doctor asked authorities to move him to hospital as he continued with his hunger strike since his arrest and his health condition had allegedly worsened. Saakashvili ended the hunger strike after reaching agreement with authorities that they will transfer him to Gori Military Hospital for medical treatment. As of March 20, Saakashvili remains in No. 12 penitentiary facility in Rustavi.