Translated material
Georgian Gambit
Mikheil Saakashvili is ready to leave early
The President of Georgia yesterday sharply reversed the dramatic course of events in the republic. After a brutal crackdown on opposition protests on Wednesday and angry comments from around the world, Mikheil Saakashvili showed he intends to retain power democratically and announced early presidential elections.In a televised address yesterday, Mr. Saakashvili announced that he was shortening his term in office, which expires at the beginning of 2009, and calling early presidential elections for January 5, 2008. In parallel, a referendum will be held on the timing of parliamentary elections, which are also expected to be held next year.
It is quite obvious that the Georgian president was prompted to take such an extraordinary step not so much by the opposition and not even by the indignation of Moscow, but by the indignant statements of Western politicians who warned Mikheil Saakashvili against “curtailing democracy” in the country . The announcement of early presidential elections in Georgia was immediately met with approval, primarily in Washington, where State Department spokesman Sean McCormack announced that “exactly such steps are necessary to restore democracy.” At the same time, the United States called on “all political parties to remain calm, respect the law and clarify relations through discussions.”
Meanwhile, hours earlier, before Saakashvili’s sensational speech, quite harsh statements were made from the West against the Georgian authorities.
“We are concerned about the reports coming from Georgia. We urge that any protests be peaceful and that both sides refrain from violence,” said Gordon Johndro, a spokesman for the US Presidential National Security Council. And the same Sean McCormack said: “If there are disagreements within the political system in Georgia ... then they can be resolved through peaceful political dialogue, and undoubtedly this is exactly what we hope to see.”
Very painful, given Georgia’s desire to join the Western military-political bloc of NATO, was the statement of the organization’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: “The introduction of a state of emergency and the cessation of media outlets in Georgia does not correspond to Euro-Atlantic values.” The Georgian leadership and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis called on the Georgian leadership to follow the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights: “The authorities must prove that any restrictions are proportionate and justified.”
Opinions from Moscow were also extremely harsh. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Kamynin, said that “it is impossible to characterize what is happening today in Georgia as anything other than a gross violation of human rights and democratic freedoms.” He noted that during the dispersal of the opposition demonstration, two Russian correspondents were injured (gas poisoned by special forces). Moscow demanded that the Georgian authorities investigate and punish those responsible.
Mikheil Saakashvili expects to receive an “unambiguous mandate” in the elections on January 5 to resist “external challenges” (again hinting at Moscow’s involvement in destabilizing the situation in the republic). The Georgian president emphasized that he was going to hold elections two months before the presidential elections in Russia in order, as he put it, to “get a head start.”
In an interview with Vremya Novostei yesterday, Georgian political scientist Ramaz Sakvarelidze explained the president’s unexpected decision as follows: “Saakashvili is both retreating and advancing. The opposition has very little time to prepare for the elections if it decides to nominate a single candidate. On the other hand, Saakashvili gave in because he separated the presidential and parliamentary elections, which was what the opposition sought. However, the presidential elections will take place just two months after the dispersal of the demonstrations, which has created a very difficult background both in Georgia and outside the country. Will Saakashvili have time to regain the trust of voters, that is, to cover this background with some positivity?” The first applications for participation in the upcoming presidential campaign have also appeared. The chairman of the Right Opposition parliamentary faction, David Gamkrelidze, has already announced his readiness to compete with Mikheil Saakashvili in the elections.
Let us recall that the actions of the Georgian opposition began on November 2 under the slogan “Georgia without a president” and with the demand to hold parliamentary elections in the spring, and not next fall, as the Georgian leaders planned. After a multi-day protest on November 7, Georgian authorities used water cannons and tear gas to disperse an opposition rally in Tbilisi. After this, Mikheil Saakashvili introduced a state of emergency throughout Georgia for a period of 15 days.
Speaking to the nation yesterday, the President of Georgia also promised to abolish the special regime in the country “in the coming days,” as the situation “stabilizes.”
The state of emergency involves limiting the effect of three articles of the Georgian constitution. Journalists were the most confused in this situation. If everything was clear with the ban on holding demonstrations and strikes, questions arose regarding the provision on the ban on the collection and dissemination of information. The presidential decree introducing a state of emergency for a period of 15 days explained that only public television would disseminate news. The authorities completely switched off the opposition television channels Imedi and Kavkasia. A Vremya Novostei correspondent turned to the presidential press service for clarification, where they explained that the ban does not apply to news agencies and newspapers, as well as to the activities of representatives of foreign media.
The Georgian authorities, through companies providing cable television services, have banned broadcasting in the country of the Russian television channels NTV, RTR, ORT and the European Euronews. But episodes on public television are now released every hour in Georgia. Demonstrating objectivity, television even reports, for example, that students gathered for a rally in Batumi, but were dispersed by special forces with batons. Also shown were oppositionists beaten during the suppression of the Tbilisi demonstrations - deputies Levan Gachechiladze and leader of the People's Party Koba Davitashvili. The latter, after being forcibly taken to the city of Gori, 70 kilometers west of Tbilisi, ended up in a local military hospital. As if to emphasize that dispersing demonstrations is common in Europe, Georgian public television showed footage of police clashes with demonstrators during recent protests in Estonia.
Yesterday, data on casualties after clashes in the capital of Georgia was made public. A total of 587 protest participants sought medical help; eighteen were left for inpatient treatment. In three cases, surgical intervention was required. Up to 30 law enforcement officers were also injured. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs detained 32 demonstrators.
The fate of the leader of the Freedom movement, Konstantin Gamsakhurdia, who, according to the movement’s press center, “disappeared,” remains unknown. His brother Tsotne Gamsakhurdia, as well as Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili, according to Deputy Prosecutor General Nikoloz Gvaramia, will be prosecuted “for anti-constitutional activities,” “espionage” and “participation in a conspiracy to overthrow the government.” Tsotne Gamsakhurdia suggested that the opposition be more radical during their speeches, and Shalva Natelashvili was seen in suspicious contacts with Russian diplomats, who were declared persona non grata by Georgia.
The Russian Embassy in Tbilisi is operating as usual, with the exception of three diplomats accused by Georgia of defamatory ties with the Georgian opposition. Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ivan Volynkin, Advisor Pavel Solomatin and Third Secretary Alexander Kurenkov were packing their things yesterday, preparing to leave the country. “This is an unprecedented provocation when three of our diplomats are expelled from Georgia at once,” said Ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko. The head of the Russian diplomatic mission said that the allegation about the involvement of those expelled in “inciting the organization of opposition actions could only have been born in some fevered imagination; there is no evidence base for the accusations of the Russian Embassy employees.” In response to the actions of the Tbilisi authorities, three employees of the Georgian embassy will also be expelled from Moscow.
Meanwhile, the main avenue of the Georgian capital Rustaveli was not crowded yesterday. Traffic on it has been stopped. And only law enforcement officers in camouflage, but without weapons or batons, lined up in chains on the sidewalk. True, a few pedestrians freely passed through such cordons; law enforcement officers did not ask citizens any questions. On Rose Square at the end of the avenue there are still several buses with special forces. Classes in educational institutions have been canceled for two days. Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze suggested yesterday that today it will be possible to talk specifically about the possibility of lifting the state of emergency.