what was going on in the backstage of the voting process itself)
but would
play a fair game to survive as a party in order to save its image while leaving a huge puzzle for Ivanishvili and his team. The
next
day
Saakashvili
acknowledged the defeat of his United National Movement and expressed its readiness to collaborate with the new government during the remaining tenure of his presidency. It took too long for the central election commission to publish the final results leading to legitimate doubts in voters and opposition activists that the government was try-
Georgian protesters rallying against prisoner abuse (Photo: bistory.ap.org)
ing to win some time, falsify the records of proceedings and keep
the Georgian public that NATO and the EU need some time to
the Georgian Dream Coalition from obtaining a constitutional
better understand what is going on in Georgia today.
majority in the parliament.
One Georgian student said: “I don’t know what is better:
A party with an overwhelming majority scares most of
having a president who knows democracy very well but always
us, especially the elitist group of intellectuals, called in Georgian
does the contrary, or having an eccentric political leader who has
jargon: “Shuashistebi”-“middleists” who hold neutral but critical
no idea about democracy and acts in full faith of his ignorance.1”
positions on what is going on in Georgian politics. Members of this informal group spread dozens of messages a day on their Facebook pages and a general content analysis of their posts is sufficient to conclude that they are mostly pessimistic about future political developments in Georgia. Optimism that talks loudly about the first peaceful transi-
About the author
tion of power in Georgia also has its merits. However, as more time passes, the more optimism is overstretched in terms of how
Ana Lolua obtained her Masters Degree from the College of
two parties with absolutely opposite values, principles and politi-
Europe (Natolin Campus) in EU Interdisciplinary Studies (2011).
cal agendas will succeed in reconciling their positions for the best
After returning to Tbilisi, Ana joined Transparency International
of Georgia’s national interest. If the political cycle concludes in
Georgia working as a researcher under the program of Policy,
chaos, it is very easy for the party in power to escape responsibil-
Advocacy, and Civil Society Development in Georgia (East-West
ity and justify many hasty and unlawful decisions. Double stand-
Management Institute). In the same year she became the Secre-
ards apply in foreign policy: Ivanishvili’s claims that Georgia, a
tary General of Youth Atlantic Treaty Association-Georgia. She
future regional power, remains firmly committed to the goal of
currently works at the French Institute of Tbilisi as an inter-
Euroatlantic integration while being accompanied by various
university cooperation assistant and is involved with YATA-
scandals such as the initiative by civil society organizations
Georgia as a volunteer.
(Association of King Erekle II- who signed the tractate in 1783 bringing Georgia under Russian influence) to close down the museum of Soviet occupation in Tbilisi. NATO Secretary General Rasmussen’s call to stop political persecutions is interpreted
1
differently by different actors and gives Ivanishvili “carte
ing political science at Central European University.
Giorgi Tskhadaia: Op-ed columnist at Georgian journal Liberali; study-
blanche” to postpone his visit to the United States, explaining to Atlantic Voices, Volume 2, Issue 12
4