Press Digest 10.01.2015
"Georgians cannot ignore bloodshed in Paris”
Dream Government vs. Free Democrats ***
Georgians cannot ignore bloodshed in Paris”
"For France, terrorism is nothing new. France has an instrumental role in the fight against terrorism, which is why the Islamists have planned and carried out several horrific attacks there; however, the recent extreme attack against this country are perhaps the most tragic.
Crisis has already hit France and this is apparent. On top of that, the process of immigration has also aggravated the situation there as well as throughout Europe. France is trying to stall this process; however, unfortunately, all attempts to do so have ended in failure.
A flood of immigrants has already taken over many European countries, including France,” claims terrorism expert Badri Nachkebia in his interview with the Kviris Palitra newspaper.
As official data has it, Muslim population is France is 7 percent; however, according to unofficial information, even more Muslims live in the country today. It goes without saying that European values are a far cry from those of Muslims. Their ideology and their views are worlds apart and this obviously triggers conflict in the country. All this agitates the people and exacerbates the situation there even more – mass immigration results in formation of neo-fascist organizations, with their representatives craving to come into power.
Hence, if they don’t want the situation to aggravate further in the future, the European leaders must ramp up efforts to stop the immigration process,”- states Badri Nachkebia.
“Islamic State” is gradually establishing itself as an actual state with its ministries, courts, finance system etc. The key force empowering the Islamic State is volunteers, while its oil operations guarantee its economic development.
”Reports claim that the state sells oil via Turkey. Thus, several players with their own interests are involved in this large scale process. Plus, Algeria’s and Libya’s press services are said to have warned France about a forthcoming terrorist attack in advance.
Naturally, this reminds us of a terrorist attack against the USA in 2001, where they only voiced concerns over the forthcoming threat without having declared a terrorist alert in the country. However, today, we have already entered an extremely dangerous era in our history and we always have to be on alert, refusing to let down our guard even for a minute,”- contends the expert.
“Georgia must maintain balance. We obviously cannot ignore this terrible bloodshed in Paris. The entire North Caucasus is vulnerable to dangers today.
When talking about the Islamic State, we mainly mention Kists from Pankisi; however, do we know anything regarding Muslim Georgians? We have to be on top of things; we are obliged to find out whether Muslim inhabitants of Adjara, Turks with Georgian roots, etc are in the Islamic State today. We must keep a constant eye on suspicious people entering Georgia; we must be vigilant and cooperate not only with the West, but also with Russia, since our interests overlap on this subject.
Peace reigns in the North Caucasus now, but this region remains vulnerable, and the ongoing processes can easily shake it,”- concludes the respondent.
Dream Government vs. Free Democrats
"Free Democrats, despite having recently moved to the opposition, still stand a chance of losing their posts. This issue is being actively discussed today.
As coalition members say, if Free Democrats take their cue from the Nationals and continue following in their footsteps, they will bid farewell to the Parliament soon.
The members of Irakli Gharibashvili’s team don’t view this as a tragedy, however. As they allege, they will remain at their people’s service; according to them, their position may coincide or contradict with that of the majority and this absolutely natural,” - reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
“If Free Democrats follow the Nationals’ lead, we will obviously urge them to resign,”- declares parliamentary majority member, Omar Nishnianidze.
“They have merged with the clique of Nationals and they’d better highlight this subject. We intend to get actively involved in parliamentary activities; we will draft our legislative initiatives and proclaim our opinions regarding their legislations as well. We will always openly show our position and approve their initiations only if we decide they are rational,”- stated Zurab Abashidze.
Parliamentary majority Member, Gia Volski affirms that the issue of dismissing Free Democrats has been pushed to the top of their agenda; however, as he claims, their endeavor to keep ties with the Nationals has nothing to do with this matter,”- says the article.
It is also worth noting that out of 15 committees, 3 of them are led by Viktor Dolidze, Gia Tsagareishvili and Davit Onoprishvili, while one parliament vice-speaker post is held by Alasania’s team member Zurab Abashidze.
It is true that Free Democrats stepped down and voluntarily left the government; however, they are unlikely to back down so easily now. They are moved with their desire to hold their ground and maintain their posts in the legislative body. As one party leader, Giorgi Tsagareishvili says, their fate is in the majority’s hands and they must have the final say on this issue.
“We will always pursue the interests of our country and people. Our cooperation with the Nationals is really out of question. The deputies can mind their own business and not worry about this issue.
They can dismiss us, obviously. Let them put their heads together on this issue and render a final verdict. We see nothing tragic in this. Our interests will sometimes overlap, but they will also clash. Nothing is unusual or extraordinary about this,”- says Mr. Tsagareishvili.
Political expert Gia Nodia presumes that Free Democrats will have to leave their posts in the parliament:
“As it appears, Free Democrats are afraid that they will be associated with the National Movement and are trying to distance themselves from this party. However, elementary political logic always pushes the parties to cooperate. I don’t think that these two parties will merge into one; however, we all know that cooperation between the opposition parties is nothing new or unusual,”- says Mr. Nodia.
“The Georgian Dream Coalition will render its final verdict on this issue in the immediate future. In order to dismiss the Free Democrats from parliament, as many as 76 deputies must approve the initiation. The Republicans’ position is already known – they plan to vote against this initiative,”- concludes the author of the article.
