"Witch-hunt" claims hit Georgia politics Allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili have accused Georgia's new billionaire-led government of pursuing a witch-hunt against the former leading party that could undermine the fragile democracy. Senior foreign officials have also warned Bidzina Ivanishvili, the tycoon whose opposition coalition won a surprise victory in parliamentary elections last month, to end a series of arrests of people linked to the party of Mr Saakashvili, who remains president. Lady Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief, is expected to deliver a similar message in a visit to Tbilisi on Monday. Within days of Mr Ivanishvili being sworn in as premier, authorities arrested a former defence minister under Mr Saakashvili, Bacho Akhalaia, and Georgia's military chief of staff, charging them with abuse of military personnel. More than 15 arrests have followed, including Tbilisi's deputy mayor and 10 interior ministry officials accused of carrying out illegal computer surveillance of Mr Ivanishvili's election campaign and blackmailing one of his bodyguards. Giga Bokeria, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council and a key Saakashvili ally, said on Friday that actions and statements by Mr Ivanishvili made it "clear that the motive of recent actions is to arrest political opponents and individuals affiliated with [Mr Saakashvili's] National Movement." "It is not a fight for fairness or the investigation of specific crimes," he added. An aide to the president added that the new government's behaviour gave grounds to fear that Georgia might follow other post-Soviet states "where authoritarian governments came to power through free and fair elections and managed to close down the political system." Mr Ivanishvili pledged after the election not to pursue revenge against Mr Saakashvili's party, despite being subject to official harassment during his election campaign. But he said cases might be brought against officials who had broken the law, leaving broad scope for action. His six-party Georgian Dream coalition is also facing demands from its voters to strengthen the rule of law and act against abuses by the former government. A popular perception that Mr Saakashvili's pro-western government had sometimes placed itself above the law and used the justice system for its own ends was a factor in its declining popularity that allowed the opposition coalition to win. Mr Ivanishvili at a press conference last week accused the former ruling party of "lying and speaking hysterically." He said he would not obstruct the work of independent prosecutors, and refused to rule out action even being brought against Mr Saakashvili, though he said he personally did not support this. "If prosecutors specifically put the case against the highest officials of the state, I will not step in and close such cases," he said. The former ruling party, however, suggests the arrests are beginning to resemble politically-motivated retribution. Mr Akhalaia was most recently interior minister and resigned from his post shortly before the election when video clips surfaced showing horrific abuses in the Georgian prison system, which he had headed from 2005 to 2008. But the charges against him do not relate to the prisons scandal. Georgia's justice minister has also suggested a case may be brought against Gigi Ugalava, mayor of Tbilisi and another Saakashvili ally. After international criticism, Mr Ivanishvili withdrew an initial call after his election victory for Mr Saakashvili to resign, though the president is due under Georgia's constitution to serve another year. Mr Ivanishvili has privately and publicly renewed the call in recent weeks. The new government has also put pressure on Mr Saakashvili to move out of a lavish presidential palace, built in recent years in the style of Berlin's Reichstag building, on cost grounds.