Tweet
October 25, 2013 3:37 pm
Saakashvili era ends as Georgia heads for presidential poll
By Neil Buckley in Tbilisi
ŠAP
Georgia will this weekend bring down the curtain on the era of Mikheil
Saakashvili, who led its pro-democracy Rose Revolution a decade ago,
with presidential polls on Sunday that could start a new period of
uncertainty in the former Soviet republic.
Mr Saakashvili's party was defeated in parliamentary elections a year
ago by the six-party coalition of the enigmatic billionaire,Bidzina
Ivanishvili, as Georgians tired of what many saw as the government's
increasingly authoritarian tendencies. The Georgian president has
since served the final year of his second term in a turbulent
cohabitation with Mr Ivanishvili as premier. Under Georgia's
constitution, Mr Saakashvili must now step down.
His departure removes what has been a source of constant irritation
for Russia, especially since the 2008 war. However, the more
pro-Russian Mr Ivanishvili has had only limited success in rebuilding
ties with Moscow.
Mr Ivanishvili has said he, too, will resign soon after the
presidential poll - as he has suggested since his dramatic entry into
politics two years ago - and will propose an as yet unnamed successor
as premier.
`I will step down after I am convinced that nobody can change the
course we have chosen and that Georgia will develop in a stable way,'
Mr Ivanishvili said in a 15-page `open letter' to Georgians last
month.
It remains unclear whether a successor will manage to hold the
fractious Georgian Dream coalition together, or how much backstage
influence Mr Ivanishvili, a former oligarch who made his fortune in
Russia, may continue to exert.
Mr Saakashvili and his officials, meanwhile, say they fear the
president could be arrested on politically motivated charges, once he
steps down - a move that would carry echoes of the jailing of the
former Orange Revolution co-leader Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine.
Several senior members of Mr Saakashvili's United National Movement,
including a former prime minister, Vano Merabishvili, have been
arrested in the past year. Mr Ivanishvili has refused to rule out the
possibility that Mr Saakashvili could be, too.
Yet Sunday's election seems set to be the most low-key, and
democratic, in Georgia's two decades of independence, after a campaign
lacking the protests and scandals of previous polls.
An overcast Tbilisi was calm on Thursday, with billboards plastered
with posters for 23 presidential candidates.
The two main contenders contrast with the outsize personalities who
have dominated other elections. The favourite, from Mr Ivanishvili's
Georgian Dream coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, 43, is a low-key
former university rector with little political experience.
The United National Movement candidate is David Bakradze, a
41-year-old former parliament speaker.
But the campaign has not been totally without intrigue. Mr Ivanishvili
and Mr Margvelashvili have declared the Georgian Dream candidate will
not go into a second round vote if he does not secure the 50 per cent
needed to win outright in the first round - seen by some observers as
a gaffe.
Polls show Mr Margvelashvili still short of that figure, though with
about twice Mr Bakradze's support. An unexpectedly strong campaign by
a third candidate, Nino Burjanadze, another former parliament speaker,
has also prompted speculation she might squeeze into second place.
Ms Burjanadze has traced an arc from being a Rose revolution co-leader
to being viewed by many Georgians as pro-Russian, after she met
president Vladimir Putin in the wake of Georgia's 2008 war with
Russia, though she denies this.
`Many people in this country believe that [Ms Burjanadze] is Russia's
favourite person in our politics, so are afraid that if she comes
second she will be resurrected as a major political force,' said
Alexander Rondeli, a veteran political analyst.
Sunday's election takes place under new constitutional rules
transferring many presidential powers to parliament and turning
Georgia into more of a parliamentary republic.
But the victor could play an important role in future conflicts or
crises - or in attempting to keep Georgian Dream together. That has
focused attention on Mr Margvelashvili's status as a relative novice.
`He is highly intelligent, but he has no real political experience,'
says one person who knows him.
Ghia Nodia of Tbilisi's Ilia State University suggests Mr Ivanishvili
may have chosen Mr Margvelashvili as someone the billionaire believes
he can control from the sidelines, along with the new premier.
`[Ivanishvili] believes he will control government on behalf of
society. That is his image,' says Mr Nodia. `The reality is another
question. When you don't have the formal power, however weak the prime
minister may be, there is always the danger that he will start to
become independent.'
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/666d68e4-3d4e-11e3-9928-00144feab7de.html#axzz2irZJJHjg
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Saakashvili era ends as Georgia heads for presidential poll
By Neil Buckley in Tbilisi
ŠAP
Georgia will this weekend bring down the curtain on the era of Mikheil
Saakashvili, who led its pro-democracy Rose Revolution a decade ago,
with presidential polls on Sunday that could start a new period of
uncertainty in the former Soviet republic.
Mr Saakashvili's party was defeated in parliamentary elections a year
ago by the six-party coalition of the enigmatic billionaire,Bidzina
Ivanishvili, as Georgians tired of what many saw as the government's
increasingly authoritarian tendencies. The Georgian president has
since served the final year of his second term in a turbulent
cohabitation with Mr Ivanishvili as premier. Under Georgia's
constitution, Mr Saakashvili must now step down.
His departure removes what has been a source of constant irritation
for Russia, especially since the 2008 war. However, the more
pro-Russian Mr Ivanishvili has had only limited success in rebuilding
ties with Moscow.
Mr Ivanishvili has said he, too, will resign soon after the
presidential poll - as he has suggested since his dramatic entry into
politics two years ago - and will propose an as yet unnamed successor
as premier.
`I will step down after I am convinced that nobody can change the
course we have chosen and that Georgia will develop in a stable way,'
Mr Ivanishvili said in a 15-page `open letter' to Georgians last
month.
It remains unclear whether a successor will manage to hold the
fractious Georgian Dream coalition together, or how much backstage
influence Mr Ivanishvili, a former oligarch who made his fortune in
Russia, may continue to exert.
Mr Saakashvili and his officials, meanwhile, say they fear the
president could be arrested on politically motivated charges, once he
steps down - a move that would carry echoes of the jailing of the
former Orange Revolution co-leader Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine.
Several senior members of Mr Saakashvili's United National Movement,
including a former prime minister, Vano Merabishvili, have been
arrested in the past year. Mr Ivanishvili has refused to rule out the
possibility that Mr Saakashvili could be, too.
Yet Sunday's election seems set to be the most low-key, and
democratic, in Georgia's two decades of independence, after a campaign
lacking the protests and scandals of previous polls.
An overcast Tbilisi was calm on Thursday, with billboards plastered
with posters for 23 presidential candidates.
The two main contenders contrast with the outsize personalities who
have dominated other elections. The favourite, from Mr Ivanishvili's
Georgian Dream coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, 43, is a low-key
former university rector with little political experience.
The United National Movement candidate is David Bakradze, a
41-year-old former parliament speaker.
But the campaign has not been totally without intrigue. Mr Ivanishvili
and Mr Margvelashvili have declared the Georgian Dream candidate will
not go into a second round vote if he does not secure the 50 per cent
needed to win outright in the first round - seen by some observers as
a gaffe.
Polls show Mr Margvelashvili still short of that figure, though with
about twice Mr Bakradze's support. An unexpectedly strong campaign by
a third candidate, Nino Burjanadze, another former parliament speaker,
has also prompted speculation she might squeeze into second place.
Ms Burjanadze has traced an arc from being a Rose revolution co-leader
to being viewed by many Georgians as pro-Russian, after she met
president Vladimir Putin in the wake of Georgia's 2008 war with
Russia, though she denies this.
`Many people in this country believe that [Ms Burjanadze] is Russia's
favourite person in our politics, so are afraid that if she comes
second she will be resurrected as a major political force,' said
Alexander Rondeli, a veteran political analyst.
Sunday's election takes place under new constitutional rules
transferring many presidential powers to parliament and turning
Georgia into more of a parliamentary republic.
But the victor could play an important role in future conflicts or
crises - or in attempting to keep Georgian Dream together. That has
focused attention on Mr Margvelashvili's status as a relative novice.
`He is highly intelligent, but he has no real political experience,'
says one person who knows him.
Ghia Nodia of Tbilisi's Ilia State University suggests Mr Ivanishvili
may have chosen Mr Margvelashvili as someone the billionaire believes
he can control from the sidelines, along with the new premier.
`[Ivanishvili] believes he will control government on behalf of
society. That is his image,' says Mr Nodia. `The reality is another
question. When you don't have the formal power, however weak the prime
minister may be, there is always the danger that he will start to
become independent.'
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/666d68e4-3d4e-11e3-9928-00144feab7de.html#axzz2irZJJHjg
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress