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End of a political era in Georgia
Georgia
After ten years in office, Georgia's outgoing president Mikhail
Saakashvili will leave a mixed political legacy. But the country's
upcoming presidential election is set to bring political change in
more ways than one.
On Sunday (27.10.2013), Georgia goes to the polls to elect a successor
for the current president Mikhail Saakashvili. After two terms,
Saakashvili is no longer eligible to stand for election.
His departure is the end of an era in the country. Hardly anyone has
changed Georgia as much as Saakashvili. When he was elected ten years
ago, he was the hero of the Rose Revolution. This movement, which took
place a year before Ukraine's Orange Revolution, made Georgia the
first former Soviet republic where popular protests led to a change in
leadership.
At the time, demonstrations erupted after the ruling party was accused
of electoral fraud in parliamentary elections in early November 2003.
Three weeks later, Saakashvili and other opposition leaders forced the
then president Eduard Shevardnadze to resign. They chased him out of
parliament, armed only with roses. In January 2004, Saakashvili won an
early presidential election and began to bring change to Georgia, a
country that has been trying to westernize ever since.
Looking westward
This police station in Tbilisi was built with a glass facade to
symbolize transparency
The changes Saakashvili made are still evident in Georgian society
today. He took a particularly radical step in firing the old
administration and hiring new, young officials. Even his harshest
critics credit him with eradicating corruption in the police force.
In recent years, Georgia has become foreigner-friendly, with street
names and signs on public buildings marked in both Georgian and
English. Russian, on the other hand, has all but vanished from
everyday life. When it comes to foreign policy, Saakashvili has also
kept his distance from neighboring Russia, and has instead relied
increasingly on the United States, which was, for example,
instrumental in reforming the Georgian army.
Fading hopes
Initially the West praised the reforms taking place in Georgia. But
over time accusations increased, as Saakashvili's style of rule became
more and more authoritarian.
After Georgia lost the war against Russia over the breakaway Georgian
province of South Ossetia in August 2008, Saakashvili's ratings sank
significantly. Now only 25 percent of the Georgian population
currently approve of his policies, according to a survey carried out
in spring 2013 on behalf of the National Democratic Institute (NDI),
an American non-governmental organization.
It became clear that Saakashvili's political career was coming to an
end a year ago when his party, the United National Movement, lost its
majority in the parliamentary elections in October 2012. The winners
of the election were the recently established opposition party
Georgian Dream, founded by the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is
the country's current prime minister.
A changing political landscape
Giorgi Margvelashvili hopes to be Georgia's new president
Georgian Dream's Georgi Margvelashvili is currently the favorite in
the upcoming presidential election. Until recently, he served as
education minister in Ivanishvili's government. A victory for
Margvelashvili could put an end to the so-called 'cohabitation' that
currently exists under Saakashvili and Ivanishvili. A cohabitation is
a political situation - such as often occurs in the French political
system - in which a country's president and prime minister are from
different political parties.
But there are also indications that there may have to be a runoff
election: some polls suggest that Margvelashvili will win more than 50
percent of the votes, while others suggest that he won't manage to do
so. David Bakradze, from Saakashvili's party, and Nino Burjanadze, the
former chairperson of the parliament, are currently battling it out
for second place in the polls. A total of 23 candidates are running
for the Georgian presidency.
No matter who wins, however, the new Georgian president will have less
power than the old president has done. That's because a constitutional
reform will be coming into effect that transfers some of the
president's powers to the prime minister.
Will Saakashvili face trial?
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili hasn't ruled out the possibility
that Saakashvili may be prosecuted
Now all eyes are on Mikhail Saakashvili's post-election fate. Some
people in Ivanishvili's government are calling for judicial
proceedings against the outgoing president for his suppression of
anti-government protests in 2007.
Some prominent representatives of the United National Party are
already in prison. The former Prime Minister and General Secretary of
Saakashvili's party, Vano Merabishvili, has been in pre-trial
detention since May, facing allegations of corruption. A former
defense minister is also behind bars.
According to Saakashvili, the persecution of his party colleagues is
politically motivated. The European Union has also expressed concern
about the detentions.
After the presidential election, there will also be another
significant change on the Georgian political scene. Prime Minister
Ivanishvili has announced that he plans to leave politics. He has said
that he wants to step down at the end of November, a week before the
inauguration of the new president-elect.
DW.DE
http://www.dw.de/end-of-a-political-era-in-georgia/a-17183423
Georgia
After ten years in office, Georgia's outgoing president Mikhail
Saakashvili will leave a mixed political legacy. But the country's
upcoming presidential election is set to bring political change in
more ways than one.
On Sunday (27.10.2013), Georgia goes to the polls to elect a successor
for the current president Mikhail Saakashvili. After two terms,
Saakashvili is no longer eligible to stand for election.
His departure is the end of an era in the country. Hardly anyone has
changed Georgia as much as Saakashvili. When he was elected ten years
ago, he was the hero of the Rose Revolution. This movement, which took
place a year before Ukraine's Orange Revolution, made Georgia the
first former Soviet republic where popular protests led to a change in
leadership.
At the time, demonstrations erupted after the ruling party was accused
of electoral fraud in parliamentary elections in early November 2003.
Three weeks later, Saakashvili and other opposition leaders forced the
then president Eduard Shevardnadze to resign. They chased him out of
parliament, armed only with roses. In January 2004, Saakashvili won an
early presidential election and began to bring change to Georgia, a
country that has been trying to westernize ever since.
Looking westward
This police station in Tbilisi was built with a glass facade to
symbolize transparency
The changes Saakashvili made are still evident in Georgian society
today. He took a particularly radical step in firing the old
administration and hiring new, young officials. Even his harshest
critics credit him with eradicating corruption in the police force.
In recent years, Georgia has become foreigner-friendly, with street
names and signs on public buildings marked in both Georgian and
English. Russian, on the other hand, has all but vanished from
everyday life. When it comes to foreign policy, Saakashvili has also
kept his distance from neighboring Russia, and has instead relied
increasingly on the United States, which was, for example,
instrumental in reforming the Georgian army.
Fading hopes
Initially the West praised the reforms taking place in Georgia. But
over time accusations increased, as Saakashvili's style of rule became
more and more authoritarian.
After Georgia lost the war against Russia over the breakaway Georgian
province of South Ossetia in August 2008, Saakashvili's ratings sank
significantly. Now only 25 percent of the Georgian population
currently approve of his policies, according to a survey carried out
in spring 2013 on behalf of the National Democratic Institute (NDI),
an American non-governmental organization.
It became clear that Saakashvili's political career was coming to an
end a year ago when his party, the United National Movement, lost its
majority in the parliamentary elections in October 2012. The winners
of the election were the recently established opposition party
Georgian Dream, founded by the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is
the country's current prime minister.
A changing political landscape
Giorgi Margvelashvili hopes to be Georgia's new president
Georgian Dream's Georgi Margvelashvili is currently the favorite in
the upcoming presidential election. Until recently, he served as
education minister in Ivanishvili's government. A victory for
Margvelashvili could put an end to the so-called 'cohabitation' that
currently exists under Saakashvili and Ivanishvili. A cohabitation is
a political situation - such as often occurs in the French political
system - in which a country's president and prime minister are from
different political parties.
But there are also indications that there may have to be a runoff
election: some polls suggest that Margvelashvili will win more than 50
percent of the votes, while others suggest that he won't manage to do
so. David Bakradze, from Saakashvili's party, and Nino Burjanadze, the
former chairperson of the parliament, are currently battling it out
for second place in the polls. A total of 23 candidates are running
for the Georgian presidency.
No matter who wins, however, the new Georgian president will have less
power than the old president has done. That's because a constitutional
reform will be coming into effect that transfers some of the
president's powers to the prime minister.
Will Saakashvili face trial?
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili hasn't ruled out the possibility
that Saakashvili may be prosecuted
Now all eyes are on Mikhail Saakashvili's post-election fate. Some
people in Ivanishvili's government are calling for judicial
proceedings against the outgoing president for his suppression of
anti-government protests in 2007.
Some prominent representatives of the United National Party are
already in prison. The former Prime Minister and General Secretary of
Saakashvili's party, Vano Merabishvili, has been in pre-trial
detention since May, facing allegations of corruption. A former
defense minister is also behind bars.
According to Saakashvili, the persecution of his party colleagues is
politically motivated. The European Union has also expressed concern
about the detentions.
After the presidential election, there will also be another
significant change on the Georgian political scene. Prime Minister
Ivanishvili has announced that he plans to leave politics. He has said
that he wants to step down at the end of November, a week before the
inauguration of the new president-elect.
DW.DE
http://www.dw.de/end-of-a-political-era-in-georgia/a-17183423