Georgia’s election on 28 November of former French diplomat and Georgian foreign minister Salome Zurabishvili as the region’s first elected female head of state since independence might appear to be a substantial achievement for a country that has been positively cited in its moves towards a more democratic culture.
But the election was marred by physical violence, vote-buying, misuse of state resources and a substantial imbalance in donations between the parties. And the presidency itself is, after constitutional changes, largely ceremonial. The assumption that Georgia continues to move along a trajectory of democratic governance is far from the reality.
Although mostly free, with voters having a genuine choice between a record number of first round participants, the elections were not fair.… Seguir leyendo »
The stakes in the second round of Georgia’s presidential elections, scheduled for Wednesday, could not be higher — for Georgia and the West. Either Georgia will demonstrate that it has passed the point of being a transitional, post-Soviet democracy and earned its place in the European family, or its image as a modernizing democracy will suffer a major blow, pulling Georgia back into a post-Soviet limbo.
Most important is that this election be peaceful, free and fair, and that both sides must accept the outcome, regardless of who wins. In the first round of the election on Oct. 28, emotions ran high, political debate often turned into ugly personal attacks, and the threat of violence and popular unrest came close to becoming a reality.… Seguir leyendo »
With the triumph of the “Georgian Dream” alliance, led by the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, over Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement in the Georgian parliamentary elections — and a crucial, civil acknowledgment of this defeat by President Saakashvili — democracy in Georgia has made one giant leap forward. And this is a good deal for pretty much everyone.
This is first and foremost good for the Georgian people. Since the extra-constitutional but widely admired “Rose Revolution” in 2003, Saakashvili’s “modernizing” policies have certainly helped clean up bribery, eliminate chronic power outages and set the stage for economic growth. Much credit is due for these contributions to a state that was teetering on the brink of failure in the wake of President Eduard Shevardnadze’s second term.… Seguir leyendo »
Utilizamos cookies para el correcto funcionamiento de la página web y analíticas para estadísticas.ACEPTARPolítica de privacidad
