Press Digest 02.02.2015
“I presume that our investigators are on the right track and Vazagashvili’s case will be solved soon”
Will the Dream Government hold snap elections?
“Officials who look and act like thugs must leave their posts!”
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“I presume that our investigators are on the right track and Vazagashvili’s case will be solved soon”
“Incompetence, unprofessionalism, irrational personnel policy and indifference - these are shortfalls of the present authorities that have led us to a crisis. We don’t even know who is calling the shots in the country today.
However, conflicting evidence suggests that our people still place confidence in Ivanishvili. A clear testimony to this is our people’s eagerness to see the ex-PM return to the government,”- states expert Mamuka Areshidze in his interview with the Kviris palitra newspaper.
“In my opinion, the necessity to hold early parliamentary elections will emerge soon. The present situation in the government strongly indicates that we will have no other option but to hold snap elections.
As Ivanishvili stressed, he wanted the excessive trust that people had in him to spread to other members of the government as well. However, this did not happen since the acting authorities failed to meet their people’s needs.
Frankly speaking, Ivanishvili’s eagerness to simultaneously praise the government and criticize it seems a bit strange to me.
However, if we take into account that Ivanishvili treated Gharibashvili like a son, it would be understandable why he has come down on him recently. Our Prime Minister was in charge of the state budget; he has not withdrawn even a single tetri from it for private purposes. This is the reason why Ivanishvili trusts him like a son; however, this trust has diminished recently. Our former Prime Minister hates lies; likewise, he hates when someone cheats him out of money. Gharibashvili has never deceived him, but some members of his entourage have.
Ivnaishvili was repeatedly deceived, and he has very often found himself in a rather awkward position because of their lies. His last meeting with Yuri Vazagashvili, a man Ivanishvili instantly believed, was a clear testimony to this. It was this meeting that agitated the culprits who committed that unspeakable crime; thus, making them do away with Vazagashvili just as they did with his son,”- claims the expert.
“I can assert nothing, but I am sure that Yuri Vazagashvili was eliminated by his son’s killers. His last meeting with Ivanishvili, who decided to take radical measures against his son’s killers after listening to Vazagashvili, doomed this man. The criminals knew the case would be solved soon, since Yuri Vazagashvili was ready to move heaven and earth to make it happen.
The criminals presumably decided that they would stop the process by doing away with Vazagashvili, but they were sorely mistaken,”- says the respondent.
The murderer’s actions were perfectly planned; however, our Prosecutor’s Office has also adopted effective measures to gather evidence against them and solve the case. They seem extremely motivated and are strongly determined to follow through with the investigation as soon as possible.
Thus, I presume that our investigators are on the right track and have already identified clues left at the crime scene,”- concludes the respondent.
Will the Dream Government hold snap elections?
“Reports are rampant that our former PM wants to call for parliamentary elections in October and he is getting his party ready for this.
First he will reportedly find out if his party has gained ground in the regions and only after this will he decide whether holding early parliamentary elections is beneficial for them,”- reports the Rezonansi newspaper.
“As they say, most coalition members are against early elections since they are afraid they will have to relinquish power if these elections take place now.
At this point, they are discussing different scenarios for holding snap elections; they can either claim mistrust in the government or make people stage street rallies. “A legal tool to conduct snap elections will instantly fall into their hands if the government fails again; in this case, the president will be obliged to dismiss the parliament.
However, they can also opt for plan B by spurring the people to take to the streets and protest against inflation, climbing prices as well as their ineptitude to deal with problems.
They are also going to reshuffle the party and are currently seeking new blood to fill its ranks,”- says the article.
“A couple of days ago, Bidzina Ivanishvili announced on Imedi TV that at this point he does not see any necessity to call for snap elections; however, as he claims, nothing tragic will happen if this necessity does surface.
According to constitutionalist Vakhtang Dzabiradze, since the budget has already been established, the only way to call snap elections is to declare mistrust in the Government.
As Mr. Dzabiradze claims, he has no information about whether the issue of holding early elections is being discussed by the government; however, according to him, the present political status quo strongly suggests that the necessity to hold early elections will emerge soon,”- concludes the author of the article.
“Officials who look and act like thugs must leave their posts!”
“Video footage recorded by the Monitoring Center Mediator and Civil Monitoring Center depicts head of the City Hall’s Supervision Department Gegi Nizharadze and his associates verbally abusing an employee of the same department Kakhaber Buskivadze at his job interview and then threatening him with imprisonment.
Kakhaber Buskivadze became a victim of aggression because he tried to record the job interview with a spy cam hidden in his watch. Having noticed this, Nizharadze and his associates immediately flared up at him,” – reports the Kviris Palitra paper.
“How dare you film this?! I will tear you to pieces. Go and do this in the Nationals’ office! You have serious problems now. I will call the police and they will instantly throw you into jail. I am going to split your head open with the baseball bat I have in my car!” – shouted the City Hall’s official, generously seasoning his tirade with curses.
Later Buskivadze’s cell phone was seized and he was locked in one of the meeting rooms.
Lawyer Alipashvili claims that Gegi Nizharadze grossly overstepped his authority and law enforcement must look into the incident.
Head of Politics and Justice” Center Amiran Giguashvili has also chimed in, declaring that officials who look and act like thugs must be dismissed as soon as possible,” - concludes the author of the article.
