Tbilisi: Guigui Ougoulava, mayor of a presidential victory 
Article published in the 31/05/2010 Caucaz.com
By Nicolas LANDRU In Georgia, Municipal Elections, decisive ballot in 2010, were renewed without surprise the incumbent National Movement to power, Guigui Ougoulava, mayor of Tbilisi. Leader of a campaign that showed an impeccable mastery of the media, this politician of 35 years, one of the youngest mayors in the world of a capital amount is the man of this country in the Caucasus. While President Mikheil Saakashvili saw his popularity exhausted after six years in power and that her last legal mandate expires in 2013, the mayor of Tbilisi show the specific profile of a young and dynamic of a perfect presidential candidate.
logisticians One of the youth movement Kmara! (Enough!) Which was a key player in the Rose Revolution, soon found himself Ougoulava senior among the new elites who took the reins of power from 2004. Appointed mayor of Tbilisi in 2005, then elected to that post in 2006, he has been one of the major figures of the party of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the National Movement.
Guigui was Ougoulava elected to a second four-year term March 30, the first universal suffrage elections for a municipal election in Georgia. This post, let alone with the legitimacy derived from the universal suffrage, is an ideal springboard into the highly centralized political system on Georgian Tbilisi. The vast majority of the country's political life takes place in the capital which concentrates about one third of inhabitants in municipal politics as it is of national importance. It is this position - then titled "Regional Chair (Sakrebulo) from Tbilisi - Saakashvili from occupied June 2002 until his candidacy for president, winning by the Rose Revolution. Suffice to say that it is strategic and symbolic.
A mayor discreet but successful
Ougoulava The arrival of the head of the municipality has coincided with a major overhaul of the city's infrastructure. The list is long for a city that was exhausted: the rapid development of economy, flowering shops and offices, repairing roads, introduction of a system of official and reliable public transport, rehabilitation supply gas and electricity ... yet: real estate boom, renovating facades prestigious avenues (Rustaveli, Chavchavadze) takeover of ceremonial buildings and new construction, substantial reduction in street crime. In sum, the face of a Tbilisi severely affected by the disasters of the 1990s has dramatically returned to the light.
sort of showcase the revolutionary power of reformism, the Tbilisi Ougoulava exposes the undeniable strengths of the system: creating a new economic dynamic, modernization (at least in front) infrastructure, fight against corruption and crime. Soon, however, President Saakashvili and his government team found themselves faced with the whirlwind of popular discontent in the capital, struggling with issues of freedom, authoritarianism, democratization, the separatist regimes, and the war. But the mayor of Tbilisi, he has built his image on the successes of the system without the associated sensitivities that undermine Saakashvili at the system and not be able to cause its collapse.
So Ogoulava played four years since the comfortable role of "dual power" in the field of capital, without having to assume the responsibilities of national leaders. If in the first period, the mayor of Tbilisi have seemed to be a figure of straw Saakashvili, without much charisma or individual dimension, differentiation of the images appears today bear fruit for the young disciple. During the period of intense strife, from late 2007 to mid-2009, the opposition rarely threw his anathema on his person while castigating the president, but also ministers and MPs such as Merabishvili, Guigues Bokeria Kakha or Bendoukidzé.
campaign "perfect"
Since autumn 2009, Ougoulava began a campaign unprecedented in the history of Georgian politics. Perfectly relayed by the media (mostly pro-government), benefiting from the slowdown of the opposition movement and lack of initiative of its leaders, Ougoulava seemed to fill the void left by the unpopularity of President underlying , almost on everyone's lips, that opponents were unable or able to divert their profits.
Supported by the machinery of financial and infrastructural party power, has stepped up appearances Ougoulava developing the image of a "perfect son" on his own, modest, hardworking, focused towards economic success and especially measured, perfectly playing counterpoint with impulsivity and excess of his president.
It launched with great fanfare a flashy urban development program on a large scale, which provides a broad overhaul of the infrastructure of the capital, coupled with a boom and investment activities. In its center, a cunning formula: the New Life in Old Tbilisi , which gives a facade Rescue of the Old City when she is merely a sale of these real estate developers and construction companies - held largely by Ougoulava himself or his family.
Means of communication have not been left out: in recent months, the mayor was to all parties on television or in newspapers. His series of films and photographs showing him engaged in various trades alongside the common people, dressed as a baker, a mason or restaurateur, have frozen him an image that is modern, positivist and reassuring, away from the war rhetoric of the President .
Heir or competitor?
The results, which give 54% winner May 31 in the morning were the first since 2007 not to be surrounded by accusations of massive fraud. They demonstrate the advantage has been the incumbent mayor, both move away from the style Saakashvili - while using the success of the economic system established by his regime - and by being professional in political communication with a concrete program, facing a disunited opposition and producing speech waves and controversies. If the evening of the victory, Saakashvili tried to pull the coverage to him saying that to him it is addressed, it seems undeniable that the election concerns above all the person Ougoulava, carried by his campaign.
In truth, the rumors in the ministerial corridors that despite official declarations, relationships are stormy in the leadership. Faced with increasing difficulties, Saakashvili is no longer the only card to play the "strong men" of the regime. It seems clear that the "pillars of power", among which peak often Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, have focused on Ougoulava for presidential succession in 2013. This means he bet on the final touches of fiery president? This takes it to shade the unstoppable rise of his disciple? Is it really ready to relinquish power in does not represent a third time as President (procedure prohibited until further notice, by national law)?
A new phase of Georgian political life was opened with the re-election "in style" of very presentable Ougoulava Guigui. The opposition, which has faded since the fall of 2007 by organizing events that have endless ultimately resulted in no change, no longer appears to be the only alternative to Mikheil Saakashvili. It has so far paid himself popular discontent. By presenting the card Ougoulava the presidential system in place, however, could be perpetuated while presenting an appearance of change. With a victory following a powerful campaign, Guigui Ougoulava has attracted the attention of Western partners and put in the minds of Georgia alternatives that could come from within the government. Nicolas Landru
