Georgian opposition stops hunger strike
March 29th, 2008 by jibs
The hunger strike which lasted for 17 days in front of the Georgian Parliament was called off by the opposition on March 25th without any political concessions from the ruling party.
The opposition stopped hunger strike after Patriarch for the second time called on the conflicting sides to reach a compromise. Although no agreement was reached with the ruling party, the opposition disbanded albeit their promises to carry on “till the end”.
It is hard to predict whether the oppositions’ ratings will fall due to their inability to score major victories. Ever since the presidential elections this January, the opposition has been actively seeking to win ground. Despite holding numerous protests, publishing memorandums and fist wagging, they have not achieved any of their major goals.
One of their more “successful” scores has been to push the authorities to reform the Public Broadcaster, which in past was under the government’s influence. Although a compromise was reached to de-politicize the television, the process and procedures put in place to make this happen would make even the EU bureaucrats scratch their heads.
What started off as a call to remove the general director of the television, ended up in complex negotiations, elections of board members and separate elections of the new general director. All in all, the new team should be in place for April 4th — about 3 months after the compromise was reached to reform the Public Broadcaster.
In the meantime, the only television station outside the government’s control, Imedi TV has not only been shut down under mysterious pretext, but even changed ownership to a complete stranger and a man widely perceived as representing acting government’s interests. [for more details read here].
Other attempts to remove the head of the Central Election Commission, the Internal Affairs Minister along with other 15 demands raised by the opposition have ended in vain. This has pushed the opposition to its limits. A quote from one of the leaders reflects the prevailing mood:
Saakashvili declared war against us and we accept this challenge. If the May 21 parliamentary elections are rigged, like the January 5 [presidential election] was, the opposition will call for a people’s rebellion. . . . It won’t be a velvet revolution.”
Even with these loud words, it is unclear what the opposition intends to do. First, probably the only uniting factor among the opposition is rejection of the ruling party. Second, the opposition lacks a clear program and policy portfolio. And lastly, without compromising on key issues which they raised as a precondition to hold free and fair parliamentary elections on May 21, it is unclear how they will be able to win majority in the parliament in the first place.
With this said, next few weeks will be crucial. In case the opposition continues to blunder and fail to deliver on promises, they might end up in a worse shape than before the presidential elections this January.
In the meantime, the PACE monitors have negatively reflected on the internal political situation in Georgia: “There are no changes – and we find this is being the most devastating for Georgian democracy – full lack of trust and confidence among political players.”
All this poses an uneasy pre-election period. Without taking into account the recommendations from the last presidential elections issued by the OSCE observer mission, the authorities are risking to harm their democratic image even further. Moreover, unfair elections would radicalize even the most moderate part of the opposition as the parliamentary elections this May are seen as their last chance to have a say in country’s internal affairs.
Iberian Says
Many people in Georgia have an impression that united opposition failed and was fully defeated. There is an expectation that ruling party will hold majority in the new parliament.
Apr 2nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm
jibs Says
well, that of course doesn’t mean that National Movement’s image has improved at all — sense of apathy is a more likely outcome, which I don’t think is something to be jubilant over.
Taking unilateral steps such as changing election code, creating some “mechanisms”, taking back the offers to opposition — all while saying “we are ready for a dialogue” is simply not constructive.
And that should bother the authorities above all. It is not to say that favorable conditions must be created for the opposition to gain majority in the parliament. No.
The level of fairness of these elections will be crucial for Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO or improve its democratic image — and if the authorities continue doing things as they have so far — the elections result will not be satisfactory. For one thing, at least the voters’ lists should be clarified once and for all.
IF the authorities and opposition do not find a common langauge, at best, the result of the elections will be a “step forward” compared to the last elections, but given that those elections were barely considered as democratic (keep in mind how this government came into power in the first place see the OSCE report for violations), this will not help Georgia.
And then, if Georgia’s democratic credentials are once again put under a question mark, I wonder who will be to be blame when MAP will be refused in December.
Apr 4th, 2008 at 1:16 pm