Experts on the political situation in Sakartvele: the country is sliding sideways

In local elections held in Sakartvele on Saturday, the country’s ruling party “Sakartvelas svajonė” maintained its positions.

It is true that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated immediately afterwards that voting in the country was “overshadowed by numerous statements about intimidation, vote buying, pressure on candidates and voters, unequal conditions.”

However, international observers assured that the elections in Sakartvele were in principle free and competitive.

Political passions in the country were fueled by the arrest of former President Saakashvili on the eve of the elections. Saakashvili, a Ukrainian citizen, has decided to return to his homeland, where he has been sentenced to six years in prison for corruption and abuse of power.

Member of the European Parliament Rasa Juknevičienė 15 minutes He stated that the political situation in Sakartvele was a matter of concern for the entire European Union. Although Tbilisi officially declares its continued support for the European course, Brussels has criticized it for failing to implement reforms.

This situation favors Moscow, which seeks to continue to keep Sakartvel in its sphere of influence.

Reasons to be concerned

R. Juknevičienė MEP said Brussels is concerned about the Sakartwell ruling party’s “Sakartwell Dream” seizure of power in politics.

“The real leader of this party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, probably understands politics differently. Her perception is very different from what is common in Europe.

The bigger question is whether “Sacartwell’s dream” really makes Sakartwell’s membership in the European Union, NATO, his priority. Formally, everything seems to be fine, the same line is valid.

However, we are seeing a kind of tide: it is said that they want to be a member of the EU and NATO, but we are seeing the arrests of the opposition, as well as the use of the judiciary to achieve political objectives.

Now we are also monitoring the reports from the last election, when administrative resources were used. All of this is worrying, “said R. Juknevičienė.

According to her, the biggest concern is that “Sakartwell is slipping to the side of what he used to be: a leader of democracy and reforms.”

Associate Analyst at the Center for Eastern European Studies Dovilė Šukytė 15 minutes He also argued that the political situation in Sakartvele remains tense.

R.Juknevičienė: The bigger question is whether “Sacartwell’s dream” really sees Sakartwell’s membership in the European Union and NATO as its priority.

“The political situation in Sakartvele remains difficult, relations with the European Union are tense and, for example, financial support from Brussels was rejected in the summer.” It was explained that the support to Tbilisi was not necessary and, in fact, Sakartwell simply did not meet the EU requirements: the reforms that the Community expected were not taking place.

The people of Sakartvel are not leaving the EU, the people are in favor of getting closer to the Community, they want to belong to it. Even Sakartwell’s dream officially sets him up for 2024. He will join the EU, but this certainly shouldn’t be expected. The country still needs to implement many reforms. However, they are not made, “said D. Šukytė.

Europe tried to resolve the political crisis at Sakartwell in the spring of this year. At that time, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, had taken the initiative to gather all the political forces in Sacartwell and seek an agreement.

Unfortunately, this idea failed because the country’s ruling party and opposition could not find a consensus.

There are also arrows of criticism for Saakashvili’s opposition party, which at that time did not sign a cooperation agreement with the office. In the end, the ruling party also abandoned the agreement ”, assured R. Juknevičienė.

Good for russia

The member of the European Parliament R. Juknevičienė believes that Sakartvel’s disagreements with the EU and the division within the country are favorable for Russia, which has its own interests in this country, although it does not publicly support one or the other politician.

“Russia has its own tactics in Sakartvele. It does not support any pro-Russian politician openly, but it suits him well when Sacartwell looks bad from the sidelines, that is, divided and in political chaos.

The aim is to give a bad impression of Sacartwell in the West so that the latter does not invite Sacartwell to NATO or the EU.

Russia applauded when journalists were beaten during an LGBT march in Tbilisi in July. Moscow did not even hide its side of the anti-LGBT march.

Russia also exploits the Orthodox Church in Sakartvele because it is close to Moscow. “The Kremlin is trying in every possible way to cause as much chaos as possible in this country,” he said.

According to her, the hands of Brussels are currently largely tied and the EU does not have a chance to have a greater influence in Tbilisi.

D.Šukytė: Both the EU and the politicians of each country urged M. Saakashvili not to go to his homeland and not to further heat the situation, but he did not ask.

“If people like Ivanishvili decide that the EU is not important to him, but that it is more important to maintain power at all costs, then he will. In this case, it is very difficult to change something if the politicians themselves do not realize the responsibility of his country, ”said R. Juknevičienė.

Remain imprisoned

In recent days, Sakartvel has also been the center of world attention because he imprisoned former President Saakashvili, who has just returned to the country. On Monday, the Sakartwell government said that the arrested former president Mikheil Saakashvili would have to serve his full six-year prison sentence. He also warned of new accusations if he did not “do well.”

Mr. Šukytė stated that Mr. Saakashvili knew very well that he would be imprisoned as soon as he returned home, but he did so out of his personal ambitions and his desire to mobilize the electorate against the country’s ruling party.

“Saakashvili may have seen this as the last chance to do something in Sakartwell’s political life and contribute to the opposition’s fight against Sakartwell’s dream.” Politicians from both the EU and individual countries urged him not to go to his homeland or to heat up the situation further, but Saakashvili did not listen.

The community wanted different political forces in the country to come to an agreement, and Saakashvili’s arrival in Sakartwell has the opposite effect, only adding more kerosene to the fire, ”said the political observer.

According to her, protests usually take place in Sakartvele after elections, and M. Saakashvili tried to gather crowds in the streets to show his discontent.

“Positive results were not expected from this trip. Now we see that everything happened as it could have been foreseen”, D. Šukytė is convinced.