Cabinet Quits Amid Civil War, Economic Tailspin in Georgia

Georgia’s entire Cabinet resigned Friday, leaving President Eduard A. Shevardnadze to form a new government to lead the nation out of civil war, domestic chaos and an economic tailspin.

“Shevardnadze is a strong leader, but he failed to form a good working team,” said Tengiz Dihamindzhiya, leader of the Charter 91 opposition group, in a telephone interview from Tbilisi. “People in power must go--but peacefully.”

Of 156 lawmakers present in Parliament on Friday, 127 voted to dismiss the government, said Dihamindzhiya. Parliament made Shevardnadze temporary prime minister and gave him two weeks to assemble a new Cabinet.

The lawmakers blamed Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua and his government for the country’s dismal situation: Three-quarters of Georgians have been plunged into poverty while they have fought three civil wars in the two years since independence. The average monthly wage will now buy about two pounds of cheese.

The political reshuffling comes as prospects have improved for a settlement with the breakaway province of Abkhazia. More than 2,000 people have been killed on both sides in the civil war that began after Abkhazia declared independence in July, 1992.

Last month, Georgia signed a cease-fire with the Abkhazian separatists, and though violations have been reported, the truce appears to be sticking. Russian peacekeepers are scheduled to begin arriving in Abkhazia today.

Shevardnadze said Georgia will begin to pull troops out of Abkhazia after the observers arrive.

Though a cease-fire would be a mercy for the exhausted Georgian government, Georgia still faces dangerous domestic upheaval.

Shevardnadze’s predecessor, ousted leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia, remains popular in Abkhazia, and his supporters have seized a town in western Georgia.

Also, war profiteering is so widespread that soldiers on the Abkhazian front were receiving only 20% of their rations, Shevardnadze said.

“Corruption and theft have reached unprecedented dimensions and take on an especially cynical character,” he said. “They are stealing literally everything--our strategic materials and the aid sent to us from abroad.”