There is plenty of evidence of Gamsakhurdia's anti-democratic instincts; the victory of his "Round Table" coalition in the Supreme Soviet elections in October was followed by a takeover of the media, while opponents from the rival "National Congress" bloc have faced physical harassment. On September 18 opposition leader Georgi Chanturia was arrested for "organizing anti-social actions" supposedly in collusion with former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.
In an inept response to central attempts to manipulate non-Georgian minorities in the Republic, in which Georgians make up around 70% of the population, the Gamsakhurdia government formally abolished the South Ossetian and Abkhazian autonomous regions, thus ensuring the firm hostility of the non-Georgian peoples of these regions to the fledgling independent state.
The post of president is endowed with formidable powers, including the right to nominate the prime minister, the chairman of the Supreme Court and generals.; declare war; veto laws passed by parliament; and grant or revoke Georgian citizenship.
The president is a nationalist of the mystical romantic variety, keen to underline the Christian character of his country on the borders of the House of Islam, which creates additional tensions vis-a4 vis the Muslim Abkhazians and the Azerbaijani minority.
The strange incident of the abolition of the National Guard at the time of the coup, meanwhile, may be connected to the fact that it coincided with a major reshuffle by Gamsakhurdia of his government, and doubts about the loyalty of the Guard to himself. Indeed, some 15,000 Guards, under their leader, Tengiz Kitovani, sacked by the president on August 19, have announced that they are no longer under the president's orders.