06.11.2014 / 12:23

Press Digest 06.11.2014

Will tough situation in Georgia morph into political crisis?

“Today the former Defense Minister knows better than others that by removing him from his post the Government will not in any way thwart our country in integrating itself with NATO and the EU”

“Irakli Alasania had no right to talk regarding some kind of conspiracy theory”

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Will tough situation in Georgia morph into political crisis?

"The government is teetering on the verge of political crisis. Gharibashvili’s move to dismiss Alasania has had a domino effect and all members of his team have moved to the left-wing party. In the wake of this, the Government has lost 3 ministers, deputy ministers, a faction and several ambassadors. As our political experts claim, this has increased the chances for holding snap elections and dissolving the parliament. However, this political prediction will come to fruition only if the parliament refuses to establish a budget or two other ministers resign. The possibility of snap elections being called for is small; however, this issue is still being discussed in our political circles today,” reports the Rezonansi gazette in the article: “Crisis has not hit Georgia yet but the present situation is critical.

“Tuesday’s developments have precipitated the occurrence of crisis in Georgia. Irakli Alasania’s sharp statement as per which the cases brought against his colleagues are nothing more than a fight against our Euro-Atlantic aspirations was followed by an immediate response from our Prime Minister who underscored that a minister making similar statements cannot hold his post for long. After Irakli Alasania was ousted, the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Alexi Petriashvili, voluntarily bowed out from his post. Later, Foreign Minister and some deputy ministers also followed the lead of already resigned chiefs. Deputy Defense Ministers and several ambassadors have also submitted letters of resignation,” says the article.

"In the words of Irakli Gharibashvili, it’s a pity that Foreign Minister, Maia Panjikidze, expressed solidarity to her co-workers and not her country. However, as per Mr. Gharibashvili, he expected from both ministers to refuse to stand by their country. As the PM claims, it is their choice and everyone is free in their choice but as per him, manipulating freedom of choice is not a right step from them as the landmark elections of 2012 are connected to Bidzina Ivanishvili and not Free Democrats or any other party in Georgia. It was strongly expected that one of the team members of Alasania, Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani, would have also expressed solidarity to him by stepping down; however, this has not happened. Mrs. Tsulukiani lived up to the Premier’s expectation by announcing at the briefing presided over by him that she was going nowhere,” reads the paper.

“The Republicans were also expected to withdraw themselves from the Coalition and join the Democrats, especially when they have already expressed their unflinching loyalty to Mr. Alasania and some republicans have made rather trenchant remarks and critical statement regarding the Prosecutor’s Office and the Government; however, at today’s briefing, head of our parliament, Davit Usupashvili, proclaimed his stance and publicly stated that republicans intended to stay within the Coalition,” writes the author of the article.

“As for Free Democrats, they have already issued a statement on leaving the coalition; however, it is unclear whether or not all 10 members of the faction will make this decision. Some representatives of the party are not associated with Alasania’s team and they can easily make choice for the Georgian Dream Coalition. As one of the members of the faction, Gia Tsagareishvili, informs, the number of the people who plan to abandon the coalition will become known on Nov.12.

It’s also interesting to note that if all representatives of the fraction leave the body, the majority will instantly find itself in the minority as 73 deputies cannot be in the majority in the parliament counting 150 MPs,” says the paper.

"As the constitutionalist maintain, if as many as 5 Ministers leave Gharibashvili’s Government, the President will be obliged to present a new government to the legislative body. As they claim behind the scenes, this possibility can really surface. In addition, the resignation of 5 ministers can result in the disbanding of the parliament and their refusal to establish the budget,” concludes the author of the article.

I’ve carefully followed the recent developments in Georgia, and I can boldly say that Irakli Gharibashvili tried his best to end the crisis without much bother; however, Mr. Alasania has not allowed him to do this. Obviously, sooner or later the PM would have removed Alasania from his post but he could have granted him other high post or send him as an ambassador to one of the prestigious countries, for instance the USA. However, by releasing his rather harsh statement, the former Defense Minister broke all links with the PM of his own accord. And do you know what is most stomach-churning for me today? Alasania has become a star of Rustavi-2 TV on the spur of the moment,” states political expert, Soso Tsintsadze, in his interview with the Alia gazette.

“This is a classic Governmental crisis and nothing is special about this in a parliamentary republic. Simply we have not gotten accustomed to such occurrences and are surprised when a minister clashes with the government. I’ve already told you that Alasania’s place is in the left-wing party. This can be deemed to be his personal tragedy but the fact is that he definitely is not a team player. His statements saying that pro-Russian forces are crusading against him do not really ring true. Such statements simply play into his hands today; by making them, he just wants to flaunt his “immaculate reputation.” How can one body, i.e. the Prosecutor’s Office change the country’s foreign political course? How can the prosecutor’s office run us off course? This is nothing more than gibberish! This is no longer simply ridiculous,” asserts Mr. Tsintsadze.

“Georgia is so firmly linked to the West that only civil wars, raids or something really serious can push it from the already chosen path today. Now the Americans will simply try to build the relations similar to those they had with Alasania with his replacement. Gharibashvili knows this perfectly well but the shift of power balance within the parliament is really worth paying attention to,” says the respondent.

“Free Democrats has already abandoned the Coalition and here you should also take into account that the Republicans have also expressed their solidarity to them. The clashes and hostility within the coalition have really reached a culminating point. President Margvelashvili has also added fuel to the fire by stating that the country cannot be ruled behind the scenes. And to whom this statement referred is not difficult to guess. In addition, Tea Tsulukiani has also given advantage to the coalition. As for Alasania, I do not really know what kind of steps he is going to take in the future. Many of his adherents are strongly expected to betray him soon. One of Alasania’s statements as per which he will get involved in cooperation with anybody who has a clear-cut western ideology is particularly worth taking into account though, as in these words he obviously implicated the members of the National Movement Party.

Today the former Defense Minister knows better than others that by removing him from his post the Government will not in any way hinder our country from integrating itself with NATO and the EU,” states the respondent.

“Irakli Alasania had no right to talk regarding some kind of conspiracy theory”

"In my mind, the crisis is still taking shape. However, the situation is really tough today. I think that by saying what he said, Irakli Alasania has made a fatal mistake,” states expert Gia Khukhashvili in his interview with the Akhali Taoba gazette.

“Obviously, he could have talked regarding the present status quo in the country, the government’s pursued policy – this was totally up to him. However, when he touched upon the country’s choice and identified himself with this choice, he made a really gross mistake. By doing this, the former Defense Minister did not leave any other choice for the Prime Minister but to dismiss him. Under other circumstances, really serious threats could have been created when the Minister talks regarding some kind of conspiracy theory and this is nothing good neither for the country nor its people,” maintains Mr. Khukhashvili.

“Simply imagine military servants that are totally oriented on NATO standards, that are ready to go to the gallows not to betray their choice… when their head talks regarding some kind of conspiracy theory that can push them from the chosen path, a soldier could easily take really radical steps. However, thank God, we have avoided this threat. Thank God, our Gen Staff Head made a really rational statement as per which they don’t meddle in policy,” says the respondent.

“In a nutshell, Alasania could have talked regarding some personal clashes with the Government, some kind of conflicts and we could have followed through with this logics; however, his move to allege that some kind of conspiracy is being hatched within the government and this conspiracy is totally against the country’s interests is absolutely irrational. By accusing the government of high treason, he has undoubtedly made a truly unwarrantable mistake. He had no right to talk regarding some kind of conspiracy theory,” concludes Mr. Khukhashvili.