Press Scanner
Compiled by Eter Tsotniashvili
Friday, June 27
“Street vendors won’t go inside the markets”
Sakartvelos Respublika reports that Tbilisi street vendors evicted by police are refusing to follow City Hall’s orders to move inside a covered market:
“Street vendors who were trading on the territory of Navtlughi market are not going to go inside the market.
Conservative Bidzina Gujabidze and Giorgi Laghidze from the Human Rights International Center joined the protest.
According to Gujabidze, the government deceived them during its election campaign, because it promised street vendors they would be allowed to sit outside, but as it turns out they did not fulfill their promise.
Street vendors said they will not accept Tbilisi City Hall’s offer to move inside the market, because they would be put in an area where people generally don’t go.”
“Javier Solana is not satisfied with the quality of democracy in Georgia”
Akhali Taoba cites an ethnic Georgian journalist in France who says the EU’s foreign policy chief gave remarkably frank assessments of Georgian democracy in an interview. The report could not be verified, and the newspaper gave no corroborating details:
“EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana is unsatisfied with the quality of democracy in Georgia. Solana said this in his latest interview with a French radio station.
Solana criticized President Saakashvili, saying there are human rights violations in Georgia, and that [this year’s] presidential and parliamentary elections were held with many violations.
‘There are political prisoners in this country, and the media has become dependent on the government,’ Solana stated.
According to Giorgi Popkhadze, a Georgian journalist living in France, Solana was very surprised about the Georgian interpretation of Saakashvili’s visit [to Brussels last week], because in reality the meeting between him and Saakashvili was very short and president left the EU’s office without any comments.
Solana also said Saakashvili was not invited to the EU summit, contrary to Georgian media reports, and that [Saakashvili] as well as the Ukrainian prime minister were at a European public parties’ summit.
President Saakashvili and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko were in Brussels at a summit of European public parties, though Solana held a meeting with them.”
“Davitaia and Baghaturia will get their finances”
Two opposition politicians who split from the main opposition coalition over a parliamentary boycott are still entitled to a share of the coalition’s state financing, Rezonansi reports:
“After parliamentary elections each political party that surpasses the five percent [vote threshold for parliamentary representation] gets financing from the state budget.
As a result of the 2008 parliamentary elections four political parties received [state] financing, but in the case of the United Opposition [seven-party bloc] the finances became a matter of discussion.
As two leaders, Jondi Baghaturia and Paata Davitaia, left [the United Opposition] the other leaders of the opposition coalition say that they will not get any financing, as they don’t have any moral or juridical right.
But according to the [Central Election Commission], the [United Opposition] was one entity consisting of nine parties.
‘All nine parties have equal rights and the finance allotted from the state budget should be divided between them. Baghaturia and Davitaia will also get their part, of course, if they do not decline it,’ said the head of the [Central Election Commission] Levan Tarkhnishvili.”
Sakartvelos Respublika reports that Tbilisi street vendors evicted by police are refusing to follow City Hall’s orders to move inside a covered market:
“Street vendors who were trading on the territory of Navtlughi market are not going to go inside the market.
Conservative Bidzina Gujabidze and Giorgi Laghidze from the Human Rights International Center joined the protest.
According to Gujabidze, the government deceived them during its election campaign, because it promised street vendors they would be allowed to sit outside, but as it turns out they did not fulfill their promise.
Street vendors said they will not accept Tbilisi City Hall’s offer to move inside the market, because they would be put in an area where people generally don’t go.”
“Javier Solana is not satisfied with the quality of democracy in Georgia”
Akhali Taoba cites an ethnic Georgian journalist in France who says the EU’s foreign policy chief gave remarkably frank assessments of Georgian democracy in an interview. The report could not be verified, and the newspaper gave no corroborating details:
“EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana is unsatisfied with the quality of democracy in Georgia. Solana said this in his latest interview with a French radio station.
Solana criticized President Saakashvili, saying there are human rights violations in Georgia, and that [this year’s] presidential and parliamentary elections were held with many violations.
‘There are political prisoners in this country, and the media has become dependent on the government,’ Solana stated.
According to Giorgi Popkhadze, a Georgian journalist living in France, Solana was very surprised about the Georgian interpretation of Saakashvili’s visit [to Brussels last week], because in reality the meeting between him and Saakashvili was very short and president left the EU’s office without any comments.
Solana also said Saakashvili was not invited to the EU summit, contrary to Georgian media reports, and that [Saakashvili] as well as the Ukrainian prime minister were at a European public parties’ summit.
President Saakashvili and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko were in Brussels at a summit of European public parties, though Solana held a meeting with them.”
“Davitaia and Baghaturia will get their finances”
Two opposition politicians who split from the main opposition coalition over a parliamentary boycott are still entitled to a share of the coalition’s state financing, Rezonansi reports:
“After parliamentary elections each political party that surpasses the five percent [vote threshold for parliamentary representation] gets financing from the state budget.
As a result of the 2008 parliamentary elections four political parties received [state] financing, but in the case of the United Opposition [seven-party bloc] the finances became a matter of discussion.
As two leaders, Jondi Baghaturia and Paata Davitaia, left [the United Opposition] the other leaders of the opposition coalition say that they will not get any financing, as they don’t have any moral or juridical right.
But according to the [Central Election Commission], the [United Opposition] was one entity consisting of nine parties.
‘All nine parties have equal rights and the finance allotted from the state budget should be divided between them. Baghaturia and Davitaia will also get their part, of course, if they do not decline it,’ said the head of the [Central Election Commission] Levan Tarkhnishvili.”