On 30 August, during a visit to Kurta, the seat of the temporary administration for South Ossetia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili commented on the government reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli a short time earlier.

"The difference between the Georgian government and the governments of many other countries, the reason we are better than many other countries and the reason we are much better than our predecessors is the fact that, first of all, Georgia's government is not a government where one person says one thing and another says the opposite. This is a united team. We have proven over the years that this is a united team. This is a stable group which speaks with a single voice, which implements a single policy - that is why Georgia is successful - and this is a result-oriented group. What does this mean? This means that everyone is constantly being checked and is accountable for achieving results. Based on these results they are encouraged and promoted.

"When someone reaches a certain result or exhausts his usefulness in his post - or if we believe that he will do a better job in another post - then, of course we will transfer him without letting him go stale or to strut about and without making a fuss. However, you will have noticed that there is much more stability now and reshuffles happen much less frequently. But there will always be new blood, some renewal will always take place, there will always be promotions. Two deputy ministers are being promoted now," Saakashvili said.

Translated by BBC Monitoring

Press Office
of the President of Georgia