MOSCOW, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - A documentary featuring the political career and the hopes of Zurab Zhvania, a former Georgian premier and a key figure in the 2003 "rose revolution" in the Caucasus state, was shown to the media Friday.
Zhvania was found dead at a friend's home in Tbilisi in February 2005, aged 41. Gas poisoning from a faulty heater was cited as the cause of death, although his family has dismissed the findings as too hasty, containing numerous discrepancies. Official conclusions, they said, were made the next day, which was too early for a proper inquiry into a government head's death.
"I knew Zurab Zhvania well, we were friends," said former State Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava, who made the film, which was shown during a video link between Tbilisi and Moscow earlier Friday. "I was older than him, and I witnessed his rise as a politician."
Zhvania's views and vision for the tiny ex-Soviet nation's future are read out in the documentary, based on news broadcasts dating back to the turbulent early 2000s.
Once an ally of former President Eduard Shevardnadze and seen as his most likely successor, Zhvania turned against him over attacks on the media and joined the opposition. He played a prominent role in the "rose revolution" that ousted the longtime leader and became premier after the revolution.
Zhvania was credited in his country as the most liberal figure in the new government with a moderating influence on outspoken President Mikheil Saakashvili, especially in handling conflicts with breakaway regions.
The author of the documentary, Khaindrava, dismissed as top mediator in conflicts with South Ossetia and Abkhazia in late July, said during the video link that Saakashvili's popularity had declined dramatically in recent years.
"Members of civil society have a completely different attitude to him now, and I believe he has a poor chance of becoming Georgian leader again," Khaindrava said.
Georgia will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in 2008, the first time since Saakashvili's Western-leaning government came to power.
After the simultaneous film screening in Moscow and Tbilisi, the video link participants said in RIA Novosti's Tbilisi press center that it is really important for both Georgia and Russia.
"Some of the problems Zurab Zhvania talks about in the movie - attitudes to authorities, morals - are important today for both Georgia and Russia," economic expert Giorgi Khukhashvili said.
Answering a question from Moscow regarding the circumstances of Zhvania's death, which were not touched upon in the film, Khaindrava said this was "a very serious topic for our country," adding in this case for him only Zhvania's position and assessment of the events in Georgia were important.
