Georgian politics marred by scandals
By Malkhaz Matsaberidze
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Scandals have never been alien to Georgian politics, but recently, the number of scandals has increased dramatically. This is an indicator that a normal political process is not taking place in the country. In order to normalize the situation, first of all, the 12 requirements of the European Union, which were set as a prerequisite for Georgia's candidate status, should be fulfilled. After all, this was a peculiar democratic audit of the current political system of Georgia, conducted by friends.
If we were to try to compile the top five or ten of the last consecutive scandals in Georgian politics, what criteria should we rely on? The noise caused by the scandal in today's politics or the probable consequences of this scandal for Georgian politics in the future? Both are clearly important. Although the first criterion is obvious, the second is tentative and therefore controversial.
One of the most recent scandals was President Salome Zurabishvili suddenly canceling her speech in the European Parliament. Before that, a number of statements by the President about the current state of Georgian politics were well received in the West and by a part of the Georgian opposition but instead irritated the Georgian Dream.
They demanded that the President to take certain steps that were in her hands, and first of all, to pardon Nika Melia. The President did not do this and then canceled her speech to the European Parliament, which was supposed to take place during her working visit to France on April 17-19.
The President blamed the government for this, artificially delaying the approval process. However, she immediately received an answer from the government, saying that on April 12, she asked for approval in writing, and on April 13, it was already given.
The President's canceled visit to Strasbourg did not make much noise because it was overshadowed by other scandals. However, from the point of view of future politics, the President's speech in Strasbourg could bring significant positive results for Georgia and for the President herself.
Canceling the visit to Strasbourg did not bring anything to the country and harmed the image of the President. Some people from the opposition said that she did not go because she had nothing to say. Others said, "It has once again appeared that Salome Zurabishvili is being controlled by Bidzina Ivanishvili." As was already said, after the well-received speeches of Salome Zurabishvili, they asked her to take concrete steps.
In addition to the pardon of Nika Gvaramia, the 4th President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, asked the 5th President to pardon the 3rd President, Mikheil Saakashvili, so that he would not share the fate of the first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who, according to the official version, committed suicide in unclear circumstances.
On April 11, Mikheil Saakashvili's lawyers appealed to the Strasbourg court regarding the serious health condition of the imprisoned President. On April 14, it became known that before making a decision, additional information was requested in Strasbourg, both from Saakashvili's lawyers and from the Georgian government. The main intrigue here is whether the Strasbourg court will make a decision on Saakashvili's release 'due to urgent need'.
Zurabishvili's canceled visit was marred by two foreign scandals. On April 5, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US State Department had sanctioned four Georgian judges "for their involvement in significant corrupt activities." This was followed by an article published by the UK Public Broadcasting BBC on April 12 about "call centers" that allegedly robbed European pensioners, implicating several individuals, including Davit Kezerashvili.
The Georgian Dream party was outraged by the sanctions against the judges and dismissed the US decision as groundless. The opposition attempted to create a parliamentary investigative commission, which required 50 votes. They were able to collect enough votes, which surprised the Georgian Dream, but the majority of deputies did not register, resulting in the commission being unable to be formed due to a lack of quorum. The Georgian Dream claims that their action was out of solidarity with the unjustly sanctioned judges. However, the opposition believes that it reveals the government's connection with the judicial clan and their fear of revealing corrupt links between the judiciary and executive power.
The scandal caused by the BBC publication mentioning Kezerashvili as one of the possible defendants put the opposition in an awkward position because Kezerashvili finances several opposition parties and owns the opposition television company Formula. The authorities used the BBC publication to bring new charges against Kezerashvili. Kezerashvili denies the accusations and claims that he will reveal more about the connections between the call centers and the Georgian Dream.
Both the scandals surrounding the judges and the call centers are still unfolding, and more revelations are expected in the future, unless, of course, even more scandalous news overshadows them partially or completely.