Monday, October 29, 2007, #206 (1473)

Opposition boycotts Rustavi 2
By Eter Tsotniashvili

Rustavi 2 competitor Imedi TV, meanwhile, would like to see more of the government

The United National Council is boycotting a leading Georgian television network.
The coalition of ten opposition parties announced on October 25 they will not take part in debates on Rustavi 2 until government officials resume participation in programs broadcast by Imedi TV.

Rustavi 2 is widely considered to be more sympathetic to the government than Imedi, its main competitor.
The Imedi Media group is co-owned by prominent businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, named as a political collaborator by arrested ex-minister and would-be opposition leader Irakli Okruashvili.

News of the opposition’s action emerged when the Rustavi 2 show “Archevani” cancelled a political debate on October 25 after opposition politicians reportedly withdrew at the last minute.
Vakho Sanaia, the show’s host, said the withdrawal came as a surprise.

“We held negotiations with the opposition for several days and they promised they would attend… But at the last minute they chose not to honor this promise,” he said.

Natia Lazashvili, a former Rustavi 2 journalist and member of the recently established Movement for a United Georgia opposition party, said at a press briefing that the United National Council is willing to take part in televised debates, but only when all television stations are subject to the same conditions.
“As soon as government representatives participate in talk shows on Imedi, Kavkasia and any other regional stations…the United National Council will take part in talk shows on Rustavi 2,” Lazashvili declared.

In a letter to the Messenger printed on October 19, F. Lewis Robertson, CEO of News Media Caucasus, part of Imedi co-owner Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, commented on the government’s lack of cooperation with the channel.

“What does the government have to fear?” he asked. “Why won’t the leaders of the government, including the president, come to Imedi TV and Radio to do interviews?”

Maia Nadiradze, parliamentary head of the ruling National Movement party, insisted the government was not boycotting Imedi.

“Lately debates have been more like fights and that’s why we are refusing to participate in debates on Imedi TV, but we have not declared a boycott,” she told Rustavi 2.

She went on to accuse opposition politicians of acting under Imedi TV’s orders.

The same day, Imedi journalist Inga Grigolia, host of the talk show “Reakcia,” responded to Nadiradze’s comments by declaring it was up to society to decide which journalists to trust, not the government.
Grigolia also claimed the government boycotted the station after it broadcast reports on the 2006 Sandro Girgvliani murder case, in which Interior Ministry officers were implicated.

Tbilisi mayor Gigi Ugulava weighed in on the debate, suggesting that Badri Patarkatsishvili was behind the opposition’s decision.

“It’s shameful that so many politicians are dancing to one person’s—Patarkatsishvili’s—tune,” Ugulava told journalists on October 26.


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