Government says it is ready for dialogue

The Georgian authorities have called on the “radical” opposition to enter into dialogue with them again. 10 days ahead of the protest rallies planned for April 9, the Chairman of the National Movement, MP Petre Tsiskarishvili, has said that “conflict and political extremism” will weaken the country and make the lives of ordinary Georgians even harder. He said all political forces should put the interests of the country and the people above their own.

Speaking at a special briefing with other members of the Parliamentary majority on Tuesday, Tsiskarishvili said the Government is ready to negotiate on three major issues: overcoming the world economic crisis, defending the security and national interests of Georgia and implementing democratic political reforms jointly. “In terms of the last issue, we are ready to cooperate with the opposition on drawing up constitutional amendments, election code reform, court system reform and developing a more democratic media,” Tsiskarishvili said, adding that Georgian society demands that these issues are addressed first of all. “In order to solve these problems we need peace and stability in the country, unity in society and cooperation between parties on the political scene,” Tsiskarishvili noted.

He said Georgia had been close to civil conflict and hailed the “high professionalism” of Georgian law enforcers in preventing this. “It is still impossible to say that the threat is fully eliminated. We all know that the enemy is not asleep. We all know that there are external forces who will do anything to start unrest in Georgia,” Tsiskarishvili stated.

Tsiskarishvili said that Dimitri Shashkin, the Minister for Penitentiary and Probation, would be the mediator between the Government and opposition. Shashkin said he will meet representatives of the “radical opposition” on Wednesday in order to prepare a specific action plan. The Minister did not say which opposition representatives he is due to meet on Wednesday, but said he is “waiting for everyone.”

The non-Parliamentary “radical” opposition says it is “too late” for the Government to start a dialogue. Dialogue should be held on only one issue - the resignation of President Saakashvili - the leader of the Freedom Party, Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, said on March 31. “We have had bitter experience of holding dialogue with this Government. The authorities are trying to gain some time by transferring public attention from the main issue to a minor one. We have experience of dialogue with them and will not enter the same water again,” Gamsakhurdia said.

Eka Beselia from the Movement for United Georgia also said that the opposition is ready for dialogue on the issue of Saakashvili’s resignation. She said that the opposition would conduct a dialogue with the President live on air, “in front of society.” “Saakashvili had enough power to solve all the problems in the court system, media and so on. We are not going to act according to his ultimatums now,” Beselia stated. Meanwhile, Soso Shatberashvili from the Labour Party said the issues raised by MP Tsiskarishvili will be resolved after Saakashvili’s resignation.

Parliamentary opposition representatives say they will attend the meeting on Wednesday, as “there is no alternative to dialogue.” Democratic Party MP Gia Tsagareishvili said the opposition should take all possible opportunities. “This meeting should be transparent and everyone should attend it. Everyone should be able to see what the opposition and the Government representatives will say. If the meeting is closed, some political groups might use this to gain dividends for themselves,” Tsagareishvili noted.

Some political analysts were unwilling to comment on the Government’s proposal, saying that they are not going to analyze the statements of politicians like Petre Tsiskarishvili. Other commentators found it hard to say whether the Government’s proposal to the opposition is genuine. Independent analyst Soso Tsiskarishvili said he had been invited to attend the meeting between Shashkin and the “radical” opposition. He said it is positive that the opposition is getting the information from a first hand source about what exact issues the Government is ready to negotiate about.

Soso Tsiskarishvili noted that it is unclear exactly what time period the Government’s proposal for dialogue envisages. “The time factor is not clearly defined,” he said, adding that “time will show if this offer by the Government is genuine. I will be able to judge this after the meeting.”