Press Scanner
Complied by Liana Bezhanishvili
Wednesday, November 25
Soso Tsintsadze: It is time for the opposition to begin preparing for the elections
In an interview with Akhali Taoba political scientist Soso Tsintsadze has stated: "There is not only one election threshold in the world. There are different barriers in different countries. There is an ideal, pragmatic barrier suitable for this or that country. It seems slightly strange to me to discuss whether it should be 30 or 50 percent in Georgia. I do not think that percentages should be a reason for dialogue between the Government and opposition to break down. It is more important to agree on an acceptable CEC Chair.”
“I must say that I feel that this election will be more honest than the last one. I am not saying that it will be ideal, certainly some will be dissatisfied with it and some will say it was falsified but I think that this election will mark in advance. That is why I think the opposition is losing precious time by not preparing for the election," states Tsintsadze.
“The opposition has been debating for about a month the impracticable idea of choosing a candidate by holding a primary. Instead the opposition leaders should hold serious discussions among themselves. If there is a common candidate the opposition has a chance but not a guarantee of winning," Tsintsadze said.
Asked whether current Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava might eventually become President, Tsintsadze said: "When he became Mayor I was the first who said that he looks like the next President. If he becomes Mayor again he could indeed become President afterwards. But many things must happen before then, not connected with finance or political will. What political will is necessary for clearing the rubbish in the morning and evening hours? This happens in all civilized countries, but here the dust cars go out in the rush hour. However the Mayor is a significant political figure and there have been many cases in which the Mayor of the capital city becomes the President of their country."
Erosi Kitsmarishvili: Nothing will change at Maestro until we get the resources
In an interview with Rezonansi Erosi Kitsmarishvili has stated: "At this moment I am working on bringing in resources. Nothing has changed at Maestro, and until we find the resources nothing will.
“Almost all the opposition parties sent representatives here by my request so that I could acquaint them with my vision and offer them the opportunity to participate in the realisation of this project. By participating I mean, for example, that budget sums might be allocated for broadcasting projects or we could put all these strands into one fund for rehabilitating Maestro. I spoke to everyone about this, they can play a part in making this decision," states Erosi Kitsmarishvili.
“I suspect that our channel is the most publicly-oriented and the most trusted", stated Erosi Kitsmarishvili. Asked if he was going to use the station to provoke another revolution as he did six years ago, he said: "The Georgian people conducted the revolution ascribed to Rustavi 2 and me personally. If the Georgian people again decide to revolt to protect their rights, and they have grounds for doing so, I as an individual will be with them. As I have said already however the point of our TV station is not to create an analogue of Rustavi 2. Our aim is only to change the dominant propagandistic regime in the media by offering free and impartial information.”
In an interview with Akhali Taoba political scientist Soso Tsintsadze has stated: "There is not only one election threshold in the world. There are different barriers in different countries. There is an ideal, pragmatic barrier suitable for this or that country. It seems slightly strange to me to discuss whether it should be 30 or 50 percent in Georgia. I do not think that percentages should be a reason for dialogue between the Government and opposition to break down. It is more important to agree on an acceptable CEC Chair.”
“I must say that I feel that this election will be more honest than the last one. I am not saying that it will be ideal, certainly some will be dissatisfied with it and some will say it was falsified but I think that this election will mark in advance. That is why I think the opposition is losing precious time by not preparing for the election," states Tsintsadze.
“The opposition has been debating for about a month the impracticable idea of choosing a candidate by holding a primary. Instead the opposition leaders should hold serious discussions among themselves. If there is a common candidate the opposition has a chance but not a guarantee of winning," Tsintsadze said.
Asked whether current Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava might eventually become President, Tsintsadze said: "When he became Mayor I was the first who said that he looks like the next President. If he becomes Mayor again he could indeed become President afterwards. But many things must happen before then, not connected with finance or political will. What political will is necessary for clearing the rubbish in the morning and evening hours? This happens in all civilized countries, but here the dust cars go out in the rush hour. However the Mayor is a significant political figure and there have been many cases in which the Mayor of the capital city becomes the President of their country."
Erosi Kitsmarishvili: Nothing will change at Maestro until we get the resources
In an interview with Rezonansi Erosi Kitsmarishvili has stated: "At this moment I am working on bringing in resources. Nothing has changed at Maestro, and until we find the resources nothing will.
“Almost all the opposition parties sent representatives here by my request so that I could acquaint them with my vision and offer them the opportunity to participate in the realisation of this project. By participating I mean, for example, that budget sums might be allocated for broadcasting projects or we could put all these strands into one fund for rehabilitating Maestro. I spoke to everyone about this, they can play a part in making this decision," states Erosi Kitsmarishvili.
“I suspect that our channel is the most publicly-oriented and the most trusted", stated Erosi Kitsmarishvili. Asked if he was going to use the station to provoke another revolution as he did six years ago, he said: "The Georgian people conducted the revolution ascribed to Rustavi 2 and me personally. If the Georgian people again decide to revolt to protect their rights, and they have grounds for doing so, I as an individual will be with them. As I have said already however the point of our TV station is not to create an analogue of Rustavi 2. Our aim is only to change the dominant propagandistic regime in the media by offering free and impartial information.”