Representative to the U.N., a decision which triggered some controversy, with critics saying that sidelining Alasania from the Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations would hinder the positive momentum recently observed in the process. Alasania continued working on Abkhazian issues, and with through his efforts, the UN General Assembly discussed the issue of displaced persons due to the conflicts in Georgia and passed resolution GA/10708 which recognized the right of return by refugees and internally displaced persons to Abkhazia as well as restitution of property. Alasania retained his position of the President's special envoy for the Abkhazia issue and in this capacity, paid a surprise and largely unpublicized visit to Sukhumi on May 12, 2008, where he presented a Georgia-Abkhaz peace plan. The move came amid the stalemate in the Georgian-Abkhaz talks and increasing Russian-Georgian tensions over Abkhazia. Due to his appointment as Georgia's Representative to the UN during the 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia, Alasania was the Georgian government's key negotiator with the UN Security Council and voiced the need for quick and decisive UN and international pressure on Russia to end the conflict. Alasania resigned his position as Georgia's Permanent Representative at the U.N. on December 4, 2008, citing concerns over the Georgian government's handling of the 2008 war with Russia. Political career On 26 December 2008, several days after his return to Georgia, Alasania announced that he was in talks with Georgian opposition and would actively enter Georgian politics. Alasania criticized the government's handling of recent events, blaming it for "falling into a Russian trap" (a reference to the August 2008 war with Russia). Alasania also called for the creation of strong and transparent democratic institutions. In a subsequent interview on January 25, Alasania called for Saakashvili's resignation and early presidential elections. On February 16, 2009, Alasania held a press conference, naming members of his group and declared his vision for Georgia's political and economic future. Among people appearing with him as supporters were several former ambassadors including Levan Mikeladze, a former Georgian ambassador to the U.S and the OSCE as well as Switzerland and UN missions in Geneva, Victor Dolidze, who recently quit his post as envoy to the OSCE and Alexi Petriashvili, Georgia's former ambassador to Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The lawyer Shalva Shavgulidze was also named as a member of Alasania's team. Representatives from most of Georgian opposition parties attended the presentation; most of them