GEORGIA: The cupboard is bare and there's no cash in the till, but the former Soviet state of Georgia decided, what the hell, let's throw a party, writes Deaglán de Bréadún in Tbilisi
It's not every day you get a new head of state, and yesterday saw the inauguration of Mikhail Saakashvili (36) as President of the Republic.
The handsome, fast-talking US-trained lawyer was swept to power at the head of the "Rose Revolution", the non-violent uprising which brought an end to the former regime of Eduard Shevardnadze two months ago.
The old "Grey Fox" was seen as an icon of freedom during his days as Soviet foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev. But when Mr Shevardnadze became head of state in his native Georgia he presided over an era of outright graft and corruption where the country was robbed blind and state coffers looted.
Enter Mr Saakashvili, the cool, clean hero who led the revolt against an attempt to rig the country's elections last November. Now he's in office and his predecessor is in the "forgotten but not gone" category.
Mr Shevardnadze showed his face yesterday when he turned up at the Sheraton Hotel to meet US Secretary of State Colin Powell. It also happened to be his 76th birthday, but the cake and candles were for his successor.
If you thought politicians had lost their flair for theatre, Georgia's new President could have taught Laurence Olivier a trick or two.
The props were modest and the script fairly predictable but the Georgians put on a good show all the same. Rehearsals were going on all morning at the parliament building and our own Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, was nearly deafened by a blast of music as he walked past one of the loudspeakers.
The scene as Mr Cowen arrived for a meeting with the President-elect could have come from a Fellini film: well-armed commandos in battle-dress and balaclavas observed his entrance but, in another corner, a young woman in an all-white folk costume was adjusting her make-up for the ceremony.
The new President looks vulnerable: a big man but not meant for the scrum. During the meeting with Mr Cowen he sat with his back to the door: a risky move in the treacherous world of Caucasian politics.
Thousands of ordinary Georgians came to the ceremony, which was held in the open air outside parliament.
The new President raised the "Flag of Europe" which symbolises both the Council of Europe and the European Union. Georgia is a member of the Council but not the EU and it looked like Mr Saakashvili was sending out a signal.
This is Georgia's second stab at democracy in just over a decade.
Noisy helicopters overhead dropped red roses on the crowd, but the people remained generally quiet and almost contemplative, as though wondering if revolution really is better the second time around.