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News that Zelensky has offered former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili the role of deputy prime minister ( https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-offers-saakashvili-post-of-deputy-pbarime-minister/30570546.html) further confirms that he's in the running for the most interesting world leader. ---1/10 Thread---
In the 2003 Rose Revolution, he brought down Georgian President Shevardnadze in a non-violent revolution http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4532539.stm ---2/10---
As president of Georgia, he 1) rooted out corruption by firing and then rehiring all of the traffic police in the country ( https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4849472), and 2) brutally repressed organized crime ( https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/georgias-mafia-politics-of-survival/) and crime in general ( https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/09/19/Video-shows-prison-abuse/38151348069579/?ur3=1) ---3/10---
Precipitated a disastrous war with Russia in South Ossetia in 2008 ( https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/30/georgia-attacks-unjustifiable-eu) ---4/10---
In 2013, leaves Georgia following the end of his 2nd presidency. New Georgian government issues warrant for arrest. Hangs out in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, USA because of course. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/world/europe/mikheil-saakashvili-georgias-ex-president-plots-return-from-williamsburg-brooklyn.html ---5/10---
March 2015 gets Ukrainian citizenship from his buddy Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and is appointed governor of organized crime hotbed, Odessa ( https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/leaders-in-black-sea-port-of-odesa-have-unchecked-powers.html). ---6/10---
Forms his own political party, and starts attacking Poroshenko. Poroshenko retaliates by stripping his citizenship. Gives a rousing anti-Poroshenko speech from a rooftop in Kyiv. Is arrested, but his supporters clash w/ police and free him ( https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-saakashvili/supporters-free-ex-georgian-leader-saakashvili-from-ukrainian-police-amid-chaotic-scenes-idUSKBN1DZ0VU) ---7/10---
In 2018 armed and masked Ukrainian security services apprehend him in at a Georgian restaurant in Kyiv and deport him to Poland. Saakashvili calls this a "kidnapping." ( https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/world/europe/saakashvili-deported-ukraine-poland.html) ---8/10---
May 2019, now President Zelensky restores Saakashvili's citizenship. Returns to Ukraine and says he has "no political ambitions" & backs Zelensky's party in Jul 2019 elections. ( https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/590607.html) ---9/10---
April 2020 offered deputy prime minister position by Zelensky.
What a life.
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What a life.
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