Shevardnadze eventually agreed to the advice of his old subordinates, met with the opposition, and heard what they wanted and what they wanted.
But Shevardnadze didn't want the matter to be made public.
After all, the political ideas of these organizations are too radical, and for Shevardnadze, if he can persuade these Georgian opposition to give up their current blackmail on the government, it will naturally be a very perfect result, but if it fails, Shevardnadze's political life will be lost.
After a two-day stay in Tbilisi, Shevardnadze left for Abkhazia.
By the time Shevardnadze arrived in Abkhazia, the situation had deteriorated to an unimaginable level, and his motorvoy was greeted not by a warmly welcomed procession, but by the angry crowds of protesters, Georgians and minorities in Abkhazia, who were not welcoming Shevardnadze's arrival.
The Georgians considered Shevardnadze a traitor to the Georgians, a lackey who represented the interests of the USSR to divide Georgia.
The local Abkhazians believed that Shevardnadze would take a biased approach to the Georgians in Tbilisi and support their claims to the legitimate interests of the Abkhazians.
Shevardnadze didn't expect this to be the result at all, but when everyone arrived in Abkhazia, they couldn't leave immediately without saying a word.
Therefore, Shevardnadze still asked the staff to send invitations to people from all walks of life in Abkhazia, inviting local celebrities to come and negotiate a solution to the problem, and at the same time secretly contacting the local opposition leaders and having a private conversation with them.
Shevardnadze was originally scheduled to visit a number of companies and research institutes in Abkhazia, but the poor security situation forced Shevardnadze to abandon the plan.
Now Abkhazia is like a gasoline barrel with the lid open, and the slightest spark is enough to cause an explosion.
Shevardnadze only now understands that he still underestimated the seriousness of the problem here.
He already regretted coming here rashly, and he felt that this time he was completely cheated by Gorbachev.
Shevardnadze held a meeting with representatives of various circles at the Abkhaz City Hall, and the delegates present had a lot to say about the problems facing Abkhazia.
But Shevardnadze knew that these people did not really represent the sit-ins in the square.
Those people were only instigated by the opposition to challenge the Government, and if the opposition could not be dealt with, the Abkhaz issue would not be properly resolved.
So, after the morning meeting, Shevardnadze secretly left his place and quietly went to a local resort in Abkhazia, where the representatives of the opposition who had accepted the invitation had been waiting for a long time.
Although in the minds of these people, the Soviet government was their enemy and the target of their attacks, they had to admit that Shevardnadze, who was already the Minister of Foreign Affairs and a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, was the most experienced figure in Georgian politics and the only one who had experience in governing the country.
Even if the opposition does succeed in overthrowing the Soviet government, Georgia's future will certainly have a place for Shevardnadze.
Otherwise, the international community's independent status of Georgia alone will leave these opposition parties in a position where they will not be able to let go.
In the end, it's okay to let these opposition people stand by and pick their noses and eyes on the government's governance, and if you really put the task in their hands, they don't even know what to do.
But when there is no success, whoever can fool the common people can have an advantage.
At the beginning of the closed-door forum, Shevardnadze did not rush to speak, but listened patiently to the opinions and ideas of these opposition figures with a calm face.
"Mr.
Shevardnadze, we believe that it is an indisputable fact that Abkhazia belongs to Georgia, and that the attempt by those Abkhazians to divide Georgia is an act of treason.
We demand that all Abkhazians, Armenians and Russians be expelled from Georgian soil and that Georgia be restored to its purity," said one of the people at the beginning of the meeting.
"The Soviet government must respect the choice of the Georgian people, Georgia is an independent country, we can choose to join the USSR, we also have the right to withdraw from the USSR, but Abkhazia is Georgian land, and the USSR has no right to interfere in anything in Abkhazia, because this is our Georgian internal affair," another said.
At first, Shevardnadze thought that the demand for independence was already the most unreasonable, but after hearing this, these people actually began to discuss the issue of the ownership of rights after independence.
Shevardnadze felt like he was talking to a bunch of lunatics in a mental hospital, and most importantly, the opposition was not monolithic, and most of the time they were still arguing over their political views.
If the terms of the settlement were set low, representatives of other organizations immediately came forward to accuse him of betraying the Georgian people, and then the two factions quarreled.
Shevardnadze listened here for twenty minutes and realized that he had come for nothing.
These people did not even have a unified political idea, and Shevardnadze talked to this organization, which said that this organization could not represent the Georgian people.
The conditions of the negotiations, the objects of the negotiations, and the subject of the negotiations could not be determined, and these people did not know what politics was at all, and Shevardnadze felt tired just listening to them.
Half an hour later, Shevardnadze couldn't stand it anymore, he interrupted everyone's speeches, and then said to them: "I have a general understanding of your position, and I will also talk about the position of the Soviet government, that is, to stop the present protests and to stop inciting violence and hatred between peoples.
Restore stability and unity in Abkhazia.
I hope that all of you here are genuinely thinking about the future of Georgia, and not for the sake of personal selfish desires to incite hatred and disturb social order.
I can tell you responsibly that if anyone dares to mess with Georgia, the government will absolutely not allow it, and any attempt to split Georgia and incite ethnic hatred in Georgia will inevitably fail.
When the time comes, you will bear all the consequences."
On the way back, Shevardnadze had already made up his mind to leave, and he felt that there was no way to solve the Abkhaz problem except in a Stalinist way.
Gorbachev allowed himself to negotiate a solution to the problem, that is, he allowed himself to dance on eggs with shackles. t1706231537: