Former Georgian Official Speaks of Party Reforms Ahead of Next Year’s Polls

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on November 30, Vano Merabishvili, Georgia’s former interior minister, who also served briefly as prime minister earlier this year, said the former ruling United National Movement Party (UNMP) will seek to raise the level of its transparency, become more democratic and liberal ahead of next year’s presidential election. The member of the party, which is led by incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili and which lost power in last October’s parliamentary elections, also called for broader debate on all issues of interest to society that he implied would only improve the image of the UNMP. Interview by Sargis Harutyunyan.