Born in
Lagodekhi,
Kakheti (eastern Georgia), he graduated from Tbilisi Agricultural Institute. From 1966, he worked for
Komsomol and subsequently from Communist Party. Patiashvili, a nondescript party loyalist, succeeded
Eduard Shevardnadze as the First Secretary of the Georgian
Communist Party in 1985. Under Patiashvili, most of Shevardnadze's initiatives atrophied, and no new policy innovations were undertaken. Patiashvili removed some of Shevardnadze's key appointees, although he could not dismiss his predecessor's many middle-echelon appointees without seriously damaging the party apparatus. By isolating opposition groups, Patiashvili forced reformist leaders into underground organizations and confrontational behavior. By the end of 1988,
Georgian national movement became more active, several manifestations and hunger strikes were organized by the so-called informal political organizations. The protesters were
brutally dispersed by the Soviet troops on April 9, 1989. Following the tragedy, the Georgian national liberation movement radicalized and left little chance to a local communist leadership to control the situation in the Republic. Patiashvili was removed from his office and replaced by the former
KGB chief
Givi Gumbaridze the same month. He was elected MP in the
Georgian parliament of 1992-1995. Patiashvili returned to the national politics prior to the 1999 parliamentary elections. He organized an oppositional
Unity (ertoba in
Georgian) party joining the oppositional bloc united behind the
Democratic Revival Party led by
Aslan Abashidze, regional leader of
Adjara, and was elected in the
Parliament of Georgia. Later, he distanced himself from Abashidze, remaining, however, in opposition to
Eduard Shevardnadze’s government. His party took part in the oppositionist demonstrations which led to the
Rose Revolution in November 2003. He was elected MP for
Gori district in 2004. He ran in the
2008 Georgian parliamentary election from the
Gori constituency on the Rightist Alliance–Topadze-Industrialists bloc ticket. == References ==