"We must become a European centre of the region, not a suburb of Europe. I shall do everything to keep the ideology and the team of reformers I represent in power after 2013." - Mikheil Saakashvili told Tabula. 

What is this ideology and what are the reforms Saakashvili's team intends to carry out? These and other questions are answered in the Tabula interview with the President of Georgia.

- Ongoing Constitutional reform could be considered as the key event of the year. The Venice Commission has expressed its fears about the danger of political crises it discerns in the new Constitution and has recommended further curtailment of presidential authority. On the other hand, your local opponents see in it an effort to tailor the Constitution to your objectives and a reluctance to surrender power.

None of these is actually true. If I wanted to cling to power, there are other ways - a referendum for a third presidential term or transfer of all the powers to the Prime Minister. Despite my deep respect for the Venice Commission, we cannot allow a complete leveling of the President's constitutional role, leaving to it ceremonial functions alone.

Under the new Constitution, the President will perform crucial functions. The President will be Commander-In-Chief and the country's highest representative in international affairs, the guarantor of the country's territorial integrity and national independence, as well as the final arbiter in disputes arising between the Parliament and the Government. The President will also enjoy exclusive authority with regard to independent regulatory bodies and the national bank.

I am absolutely confident that we need a balanced Constitution with no overlapping functions and conflicts arising on this ground, and no concentration of power in the hands of one entity. Authority should be evenly redistributed among various constitutional institutions as well as inside the political specter. Opposition political parties should also evolve. A circle of those political forces should also extend, who accept the rules of game established under the Constitution and are engaged in the decision-making process concerning external and internal affairs of the state.

It is precisely this model of decentralized governance that had been pursued when the Constitutional Court was relocated to Batumi. The relocation of the Parliament to Kutaisi in the near future serves the same goal. Batumi, Kutaisi and Tbilisi must become those three key centers from which the country will be run. The Government should constantly travel between these centers. It should always be everywhere and do business. The people should feel that the government is with them on an everyday basis. This does not mean, however, that the government must be large and nothing should be done without it. Quite the contrary, the smaller and the swifter the government, the higher is the benefit to the population.

The work initiated by us needs to be accomplished. No one should be surprised that I'll do everything to keep the ideology and the team of reformers I represent in power after 2013.

It is awkward to talk on the handover of power in a democratic country. Who will lead Georgia after my term in office will be decided by the Georgian people alone, through free and fair elections. As for the choice our society will make, I would rather not speculate on it so prematurely. The only thing I can say now is that we will create all the necessary conditions to ensure equal opportunities for anyone to come to power in a democratic manner.

- What are the goals you intend to achieve by maintaining this team of reformers and the ideology it represents?

The modernization of Georgia, first of all. There is no alternative to Euro-Atlantic foreign policy and democratic values. This does not mean, of course, that we blindly imitate someone.

Our political identity belongs in Europe. This is the truth, although we have often felt disappointed, been unhappy about their indifference. But that's life. We have to accept the rules of game. The shortest route from Central Asia and China to Europe goes through Georgia. We should take the advantage of the reality that we are like Europe but at the same time we can understand Turkey, Iran, China and Central Asian countries.

The Georgian state should be built upon those genuine national and civic values that do not lead to conflict and divide our diverse society on clannish, ethnic or religious grounds, but unify it. We all are citizens of our country, we all love our homeland, and this state equally belongs to any of us, regardless of belief, ethnic origin, social standing.

An uncorrupt environment shall be maintained. No one is untouchable. A deputy health minister was detained just recently, before that - a deputy minister of economy, a former minister of defense, a number of ruling party members, let alone middle-level public officials.

Free market economy shall develop further. Georgia should become the trade and traffic center of this region as we possess something which many countries lack - an uncorrupt and almost crime-free environment, an efficient and small government which interferes into the life of citizens on a minimal scale. Georgia is the country where people from around the world are happy to visit for holiday as well as business.

- You have touched upon the free economy. Just recently, Georgia signed a European Union Association Agreement, thus taking another step towards the EU. Not long ago, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy criticized us for "ultra-liberal economic environment." Does it mean that closer ties with the EU will come at the expense of free market principles?

I am sure that we will be able to negotiate with the EU without inflicting much harm on the free economy. We should keep in mind that the freedom of movement of ideas, people, goods and capital are, first and foremost, European values.

At present, even Europe is gradually moving away from what we may be afraid of - high taxes and generous spending, excessive regulations and bureaucracy; all this is slowly passing into oblivion.

Europeans themselves have started realizing that a state cannot keep performing the role of a nanny forever. The global crisis has dealt a severe blow to the project of social Europe. I think Europe will take more steps towards the free economy and, sooner or later, we will meet somewhere midway.

- In an interview with the French publication, Le Monde, you said that painful reforms come at the expense of popularity. What was the reform that most seriously affected your popularity?

Every reform made certain groups unhappy: policemen who were dismissed during the police reform; army officers who were dismissed during reformation of the army; the education reform left even more people unhappy. We also made some mistakes.

The main concern, however, is to ensure that society does not have a feeling of injustice. When a person you've made unhappy thinks that your step was motivated by the desire to make things better, he or she forgives you. No one should have a feeling that he or she was hurt because you wanted to replace one clan with another. If the motivation is sincere and is guided by the interests of the country, a person who was hurt forgives you - if not today, tomorrow. This is my experience.

When I take unpopular steps, I fully realize that society will sooner or later understand and accept them.

For example, hundreds of thousands of people in Georgia have university diplomas but cannot speak a foreign language. When I say that those who do not know a foreign language will not receive a university diploma, I know that these words will make many unhappy. But sooner or later they will also understand that this is not someone's whim but the demand of the time. If we want to keep up the pace with the modern age, we should understand that there is no other way.

- You said you made some mistakes. What was the biggest one?

We could have better explained the essence of reforms to our society. The Georgian people clearly understand that changes are needed. Our society fully realizes that we shall be very strong or, otherwise, cease to exist. We cannot become a middle-class European country because, as compared to them, we face far more ongoing threats.

That's why I mention Singapore time and again. We should be a very attractive country. Society acknowledges this, understands that this is the only way to survive. It has no alternative.

- In recent days you often talk about austerity measures, a sort of belt-tightening. In what areas do you intend to cut down on public spending?

In every area. Even more freedom needs to be granted to the private sector. For its own sake, because the private sector will not develop if the state is doing everything instead.

State interference is needed at the initial stage. Efficient government can resolve some issues much faster than the private sector, but this cannot be carried on endlessly. We should understand that this is a temporary, special measure until after the private sector has developed and been able to take over responsibility from the state.

When you teach a child to ride a bicycle, you hold the bicycle to help him ride slowly. If you never let the bicycle go, both you and the child will get tired. Neither of you will go too far and the only thing you will get is a bicyclist unable to ride a bike. It is therefore necessary to let the bicycle go at the right moment and to allow the bicyclist to go fast and far on his/her own.

- What about the Liberty Act? Has it been forgotten?

We will adopt it in the autumn.

- Our magazine often criticizes the Government's social policy. Social assistance programs, on the one hand, are a heavy burden to the economy and, on the other, these programs do not benefit the poor alone. What should be done to make our social budget more efficient, fair and reasonable?

A society having no compassion towards disadvantaged fellow citizens is not a society. The fight against poverty is our top priority, and we cannot disregard this aim. We can, however, argue over the means and ways of achieving it, which one is more effective - the market and private initiative or the state with its bureaucracy and regulations.

But we are well aware of the risks associated with the state programs on combating poverty. A few years ago I visited a village in Racha. I was amazed at the hard work of the villagers - they were sowing corn on a steep slope. Two years later I visited the village again and saw no corn there. Locals told me they no longer needed corn as they receive social assistance and buy bread. They seemed to be very grateful for that.

This example illustrates that state programs on social assistance can create chronic poverty. Social assistance beneficiaries develop an attitude to be content with whatever they receive, no longer willing to work to get more. Georgia cannot afford the luxury of sustaining a part of the population, capable but unwilling to work to improve their life, at the expense of another, hardworking part. The state should assist only those who are incapable of helping themselves.

Our objective, therefore, is to provide opportunities, education to these people. This will be the best way of helping them out of poverty. As regards the social assistance, it will be channeled towards those living below the poverty line.

To cut a long story short, much work remains to be done. One may say that we still fail to explain everything to people properly but, at least, we make efforts to do it better.

- These efforts are sometimes perceived as populism. Critics reckon that you compromise your principles to maintain the popularity.

We work under a non-stop campaigning regime, but never do it for personal popularity. That's the way politics work in a democratic state. We need the campaign to mobilize the widest possible public support for reforms.

We would not be able to build a liberal society if we do not receive the conscious support of the majority of our citizens. The success of modernization policy depends on an informed choice of society. Society should be confident that their elected representatives spare no efforts to move the country forward and never forget that they are accountable to people.

Personal ratings are not our main concern, they will sooner or later melt away like last year's snow, but rather what we will be able to do, how the history and citizens of future Georgia will evaluate these years.

None of us is Placido Domingo, Maria Callas, Greta Garbo or Jimi Hendrix. It is of course flattering when people greet you with affection in the street, support you, but this support should be spent completely, spent on reforms. A politician is, inter alia, evaluated by his/her success in changing the mentality of society.

- How far have you succeeded in changing the mentality of our society?

Such change cannot be measured by a barometer. It is an overall feeling. A free society can be discerned easily - by the manner or color in which people dress or move. I like to walk a lot when I travel abroad. I feel frustration in authoritarian countries - I sense that people are oppressed, alienated. Therefore, when discussing Georgia, I invite everyone to come and see for themselves. Our society evolves - the degree of its freedom is rising day after day.

- It's been many years now that religious fundamentalism has become a beloved tool of your opponents. They claim that liberal reforms and modernization lead to the loss of national identity and the destruction of our traditions. Shared religion factor is also well employed by Russia to fan anti-western sentiments. Why does it happen so? Is it true that Georgian society provides more fertile ground for stirring up fundamentalist sentiments than for liberal views?

Our society is not fundamentalist, in principle. For some people religion is of supreme value, but there are also Pharisees who deep in their hearts believe in nothing. The religion theme is just a tool for them to attain their political goals. It was precisely such sort of people that broke into the building of Kavkasia TV channel.

It is outrageously cynical to attribute importance to the fact that we share same religion with Russia. In addition to communists, it was the Russian Empire that did more harm to Georgian Orthodox Church than anyone else. We should never forget that the Orthodox Church has always been a national institution. By fighting against our church, Russia tried to destroy our national identity.

In the first place, it is due to our Patriarch that the Church, despite numerous efforts, did not become a tool in the hands of Russia and other dark forces against the statehood of Georgia. One cannot but appreciate the measured stance the head of the Georgian Orthodox church has taken in every critical moment. This is a person whose reputation has long been beyond criticism and, nevertheless, he has never lost a critical vision. He realizes full well that, in the hands of dark forces, the church can play a destructive role but, in the end, will destroy itself as well.

In general, the threat that the society may blindly follow someone's recipes always exists. This is a vestige of Soviet totalitarian thinking. That's why we are introducing a course of critical thinking as a subject in school. Any dogma, every ready-made answer should be questioned. This does not mean that we will have to reevaluate fundamental national values - no, quite the contrary, this way we will better understand and tell the genuine from the false.

- The mentality of society is closely related to education. The situation at secondary schools is alarming, especially in terms of qualification of teachers. What are you going to do in this area?

The success of some components of the reform of education system - for example, unified national examination and eradication of corruption - is not denied even by people with an extremely critical attitude toward the government. However, mistakes were made in the process of reforming the education system. We failed to properly promote freedom of choice, diversity, competition. The education system cannot develop in the absence of competition.

Teachers need retraining. Any individual can be retrained. We have offered nothing to these people, save threats of dismissal. This is not the police. It takes quite a time to bring in new teachers. We have no such time. Our objective now is to retrain incumbent teachers; to provide material incentives to those who constantly upgrade their qualification, including those who know foreign languages, are familiar with computers, the Internet.

This process will be influenced by children as well. A contemporary child belongs to the Internet generation. They grow fast, even independently, and are more demanding toward teachers. A teacher thus falls under double pressure - from a student, on the one hand, and the state, on the other.

In the era of globalization, it is important for people to study foreign languages and world culture, not only from books but through daily direct interaction with foreigners. This is a two-way street where not only Georgian students learn but also our guests. They are becoming familiar with Georgian culture, history. It is already more than a month now that they arrived and have already picked up many Georgian words. In the face of these teachers, we will have several thousand ambassadors of Georgia in the future.

We should attract new people, of course. To train new people, we need to significantly improve university education.

- You have recently talked about the introduction of a new subject - patriotism - to school. How can patriotism be taught to a citizen of a free society?

Patriotism is not a branch of learning. It is impossible and counterproductive to artificially cultivate it.

The main task is to raise citizens who value both personal freedom and freedom of the state. We should try to equip them with such knowledge and skills that are necessary to defend this freedom. From a very early age our citizens should be aware of their civil responsibility to their country and society.

Young people should master liberal-democratic values such as tolerance and human rights. Schools should help youngsters to become independent, responsible, and to develop critical thinking. A pluralistic political system cannot be built if citizens lack the culture of debate, diverse vision.

We need a new textbook in history. We have learned a lot by Soviet methods; they used to tell us to worship the past. The past is yours, but forget about the future because we decide your future in Moscow. In order to make our future better, we should take a critical look at our past.

Given all those threats Georgia faces now, it is also necessary to equip people with knowledge and skills in the area of civil defense. All this should prepare the youngsters for adult life.

- As regards threats: as the threat of the war with Russia has diminished, an apparent step-up in the activity of the international community has been observed during the past few months. I am speaking about high-level visits, the most recent UN resolution. What expectations can Georgian society have in this regard?

The decision of the United States to refer to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories was not easy to take. The progress is apparent. However, we naturally want to see a more tangible and clear policy towards de-occupation of Georgia.

The same holds true for NATO integration. Accession to this alliance will, unfortunately, take more time than desired, but we shall not step away from the chosen path and will make it despite all the difficulties.

The war became a moment of truth for Europe. In fact, Europe managed to deal well with its objective, in part. Some were skeptical about us, thinking that the system would collapse in Georgia. The skeptics today see that this did not happen. Today, everyone has to take into account that Georgia is a factor of regional importance.

Many governments openly share our experience in reforming their countries. In Russia, the opposition calls on the government to use our reforms as example. We have become a trendsetter in the region. Things are very complicated at present. The global crisis has weakened the chances of small countries like Georgia. Extraordinary achievements are needed to survive.