Translated material
Reserve of President Saakashvili
The ruling party of Georgia showed the opposition an example of mobilization
Data released yesterday from the preliminary vote count for local elections in Georgia showed that in the capital, the candidate from the ruling United National Movement party, 34-year-old Georgiy Ugulava, is leading in the mayoral elections. This was a real triumph for the current leader of the country, Mikheil Saakashvili, because in 2008, the residents of Tbilisi refused to support him in the presidential elections. And now, in Mr. Ugulava, he has a likely successor in the 2013 elections.And nationwide, the party in power came out on top. Representatives of the opposition, due to mutual distrust and reluctance to abandon ambitions, miscalculations in tactics and strategy, lost a significant share of support. The election results showed that the hopes of the opposition to achieve early presidential and parliamentary elections are unlikely to become a reality.
In the elections in Georgia last Sunday, 3.7 thousand polling stations were open for 3.5 million voters. The main battle took place in Tbilisi, where 981 thousand people directly elected the mayor and city parliament for the first time. To become mayor, it was necessary to gain 30% of the votes of voters who came to the ballot boxes. There were nine candidates for the post of mayor, but four oppositionists had the greatest chance of competing for this post with Georgiy Ugulava: 36-year-old Irakli Alasania (“Alliance for Georgia”), 46-year-old Zviad Dzidziguri (“National Council”), 70-year-old Georgiy Topadze (Industry Will Save Georgia party) and 53-year-old Giorgi Chanturia (Christian Democratic Movement). As a result, Mr. Ugulava received 55% of the votes, Mr. Alasania - 19%, Mr. Chanturia - 11%. Nationwide, the United National Movement won 61%, second place was taken by the Christian Democrats (12%), the Alliance gained 11%.
Ladies were on duty in front of polling stations in Tbilisi with lists of supporters of the ruling party - its coordinators were instructed to ensure the full mobilization of supporters. To avoid conflicts with opponents, the bet was placed on representatives of the fairer sex. According to the Kavkasia TV company, the United National Movement allocated about $20 million for incentives for activists who ensured a high turnout. Tbilisi political scientist Ramaz Sakvarelidze noted to Vremya Novostei that “the opposition entered the election race late and ineffectively, and on Ugulava “The entire resource of the authorities worked, so the election results were predictable.”
Opponents of the government hoped that there would be no more supporters of the ruling party in Tbilisi, even taking into account administrative resources, than adherents of opposition views. But the opposition was unable to raise its supporters to vote. About half of the voters showed up to the polling stations. This is partly due to the fact that the elections were boycotted by popular opposition movements: the People's Forum, United Georgia of ex-speaker of parliament Nino Burjanadze and the Labor Party. Negotiations to unite those opposition forces that participated in the elections also failed.
“Re-elected mayor of Ugulava has no problems with legitimacy, but there is a problem of public support, because half of the capital’s population ignored the elections,” Georgian political scientist Giorgi Khukhashvili told VN. The expert emphasized that the majority of the population of the capital of Georgia is opposed to the authorities, but this did not affect the voting results: “The opposition made serious mistakes - it did not raise the political temperature in society and removed political slogans, focusing on sewerage problems. But similar economic issues can be resolved by the current authorities.”
More than 10 thousand international and local observers attended the May 30 vote. “We were watched by both friends and enemies,” noted the Georgian president, celebrating the victory of his movement. “I was pleased with the minimal aggressiveness in the elections,” said Georgiy Tsereteli, deputy chairman of parliament from the ruling movement. OSCE observers noted that there were “systematic irregularities” in the elections, such as ballot stuffing and incorrect vote counting. However, they generally acknowledged the “transparent, comprehensive and professional” work of Georgia's election authorities. The OSCE will present its final conclusions in a couple of months.
The opposition will announce further plans in the coming days. The People's Forum told VN that they would hold a congress in June and publish the program. The National Council began preparing protest actions. Irakli Alasania promised to continue the fight until the “big victory”. “The duty of our generation is to put an end to the Saakashvili regime, whom I call a schizophrenic. This person can take steps that will lead to the destruction of Georgia,” said opposition presidential candidate in the 2008 elections Levan Gachechiladze.
“Regrouping in the opposition ranks is inevitable,” Georgiy Khukhashvili noted in a conversation with VN. According to the expert, unforeseen turns of events may be associated with Moscow’s attempts to use the Georgian factor during the Russian presidential elections in 2012, as well as with the accumulation of socio-economic problems within Georgia, which the United National Movement will not be able to solve. So “Ugulava’s current victory is not at all a bid for the presidency in three years.”