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GEORGIA: CONFRONTATION BETWEEN THE AUTHORITIES AND THE OPPOSITION
DAVID BERDZENISHVILI,
Сo-chairman of the parliamentary faction “Democratic Front” of the Republican Party, one of the United Opposition leaders, Tbilisi
The recent events in Georgia show that we have gained a significant victory over President Mikheil Saakashvili in the first half. I believe that we can do the same in the second half too. The authorities’ breaking up the rally on November 7 (the Great October Socialist Revolution Day) shows only that they are the Georgian national Bolsheviks, direct followers of the October 1917 Bolsheviks.
The first attempts to disperse the rally on Rustaveli avenue were undertaken in the morning, November 7, 2007. It was said, though, that the demonstrators had not blocked the street traffic. More than that, the people hunger-striking on the steps of the Parliament near the Rustaveli avenue were also driven away. It goes without saying, the hunger strikers were no obstacle to the street traffic.
The rally was scheduled for 2 o’clock p.m. By that time people started appearing on the avenue. But by 1 o’clock the authorities had mobilized all forces of the national security. The rally was broken up not by the riot police and the Interior Ministry troops only, but also by the army, which is a flagrant violation of law. Chief of Georgia’s General Staff, Zaza Gogava, was in charge of the operation. He is the chief military officer in Georgia. Apart from that, the authorities exceeded permissible doses when using the tear gas.
These actions of the authorities indicate that President Saakashvili does not know his own country and his own people. It is his main mistake. The fact that as far back as November 2, about 100 thousand people attended the rally is direct evidence that the society distrusts the authorities.
However the country’s official leaders took no notice of that and decided to intimidate the opposition as well as the entire Georgian nation. It is important to say that though under Mikheil Saakashvili the standard of living became still lower than under former President Eduard Shevardnadze, virtually no economic slogans have been advanced by the demonstrators. Nobody said “I am hungry!”. We demand that the power should be changed by holding the elections and then the social and other problems should be solved.
But Saakashvili does not realize that. The people are not afraid. After the rally on Rustaveli avenue had been dispersed for the first time, the people did not go away – on the contrary, still more people came. All day long, we offered peaceful resistance, nobody was armed. Moreover, nobody marauded, looted shops or broke shop windows. It means that the opposition was solid.
Then the heads of the “National Council” led the people from Rustaveli avenue to another place where there were no public offices. We managed to gather about 40-50 thousand adherents within an hour.
The authorities decided that these actions would end up in creating an encampment. We know that Presidents of Belarus and Russia Aliaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin prohibit such encampments. But we are also aware that there had been such encampments in Kyiv, as well as there had been such encampments in Tbilisi.
Knowing Saakashvili well, I can say that he falls short of the ideal of a brave man. Probably, he was afraid that the people could get together and burst into his office. So, the entire army (except perhaps the Georgian military in Iraq) was mobilized. The second rally was broken up too.
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II played an important role in the affair. He is the most popular person in Georgia. The Georgian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch enjoy people’s confidence. When the opposition began rallying, the Patriarch was reserved and called upon the parties to conduct a dialogue. When the rallies were being broken up, the demonstrators reached the Patriarch’s residence surrounded by the riot police. After that the Patriarch demanded that the authorities should conduct the dialogue with the opposition under his patronage. We accepted such a scenario.
The international factor is also of importance. Saakashvili keeps trying to take advantage of it and accuses the opposition of cooperation with the Russian special services. Now that the state of emergency is declared in Georgia, my interview to your resource can be considered by the Georgian authorities as playing into the hands of the Russian special services, which is just ridiculous.
The opposition does not depend on Russia. We support the withdrawal from the CIS – it is Saakashvili who does not withdraw from this organization. This way, we have many differences. It is necessary to say that when Saakashvili runs into economic difficulties, the assets are sold to Russia’s business that already controls the whole energy sector and a part of the banking sector.
For all that, Saakashvili looked for the enemy image and found it in Russia, when Russia did not interfere in the opposition rallies and it could not do that.
The united opposition has singed the manifesto clearly reading that all of the signers including the members of the Republican and Labor Parties, the right as well as the left policy-makers support the European and the Euro-Atlantic integration.
I can say that, in a sense, an unbalanced leader, such as Saakashvili, serves Russia’s interests, because with this leader Georgia is weak. Following the elections Georgia can become a strong and democratic nation. In terms of strategy, such Georgia is good for Russia. However, for that Russia’s political regime must be changed drastically. Russia put businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili on the wanted list several years ago. And still, the Georgian authorities call him Russia’s agent.
So, the Georgian people do not believe that we are the Kremlin’s agents. This is absurdity. Of course, we deal with the representatives of Russia and the Russian embassy less than with those of Europe and America. It is quite understandable. The authorities do the same more often.
The international organizations severely criticize the Georgian authorities’ actions - their means of breaking up the rally and suppression of the TV channels “Imedi”, “Kavkasia”. All in all, the Georgian President has reached a deadlock.
He overcame the deadlock by deciding to hold the early presidential elections in January 2008. The point is that the authorities have the only resource – Saakashvili himself. And he is going to bear the brunt of the situation hoping that the opposition fails to nominate a single candidate. Saakashvili means to prevent the independent TV channels from working using the built-in advantage. Thus, coming out for the early elections the President saves face, but at the same time, hopes to weaken the opposition.
We have taken the initiative. We are holding consultations on the forthcoming elections.
November 13, 2007
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