Tbilisi and Moscow throw spitballs over accusations of undemocratic behavior
By Nino Mumladze
Tuesday, November 20
Tbilisi has slammed Moscow for “stirring up hysteria” over the recent turmoil in Georgia, refusing to be reproached on Georgian democracy by a country with “not a shadow” of democratic political life.
“To give any assessment of the yet-to-be launched election process solely on account of its scheduled date is totally alien to international practice,” read the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affair’s retort, released November 16, to an earlier statement from its Russian counterpart. “It is not therefore expedient to enter into dispute with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.”
In November 15, the Russia Foreign Affairs Ministry publicized their “increasingly confirmed…impression” that the snap presidential election scheduled for early January “is conceived as an undisguised farce designed to keep power in the hands of the present [Georgian] leadership.”
The Russian ministry argued the election date, announced in surprise statement by President Mikheil Saakashvili a day after anti-government protests in Tbilisi were violently dispersed on November 7, was set “to prevent the opposition from closing ranks in the remaining short space of time, and society from overcoming the syndrome of fear after the brutal suppression of the protests.”
Adding to their earlier condemnations of emergency rule and the media clampdown, Moscow criticized the date of the election as ensuring “a low voter turnout in the period of New Year and Christmas,” thereby “opening room for the falsification of election results.”
In their reply the next day—with emergency rule being lifted—the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry accused Russia of brash hypocrisy.
“The country accusing others of incompliance with democratic standards denies the OSCE… the opportunity to monitor elections, which means that elections to the Russian State Duma will take place in the absence of international observers, perfectly in tune with the best Soviet traditions,” the ministry’s November 16 statement read.
Continuing the strongly-worded rebuttal, Tbilisi made to shed “ample light on the true objective” behind Russia’s stance on OSCE election monitoring and the northern neighbor’s comments on Georgia’s political events.
“This objective is to distract the attention of the international community and the Russian population from the simple fact that there remains not a shadow of a democratic political process in Russia, of which the best evidence is a comedy series revolving around the forthcoming ‘parliamentary elections’ in Russia and the ‘national leader’ of the country,” the statement read.
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, meanwhile, accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of hinging his campaigning on “undisguised Russophobia” and ridiculed his “stories about three spies who brought tens of thousands of protestors onto the streets of Tbilisi.”
Saakashvili blames Russia for the events of November 7, which he says came about from a Moscow-backed conspiracy to overthrow the government
“[Saakashvili] seems to have completely become lost in a virtual world where nothing prevents him from inventing the most terrible threats and dangers in order to battle them heroically. Such fantasies in the spirit of Ian Fleming would not deserve commentary, but for the maniacal striving to involve all of Georgian society in them,” the Russian ministry charged in its statement.
In closing, Moscow stated that it “regards the political processes in Georgia as an internal matter of that neighboring country, and considers it tactless to interfere in them.”
The Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry responded by advising Moscow to make good on that stance.
“To give any assessment of the yet-to-be launched election process solely on account of its scheduled date is totally alien to international practice,” read the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affair’s retort, released November 16, to an earlier statement from its Russian counterpart. “It is not therefore expedient to enter into dispute with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.”
In November 15, the Russia Foreign Affairs Ministry publicized their “increasingly confirmed…impression” that the snap presidential election scheduled for early January “is conceived as an undisguised farce designed to keep power in the hands of the present [Georgian] leadership.”
The Russian ministry argued the election date, announced in surprise statement by President Mikheil Saakashvili a day after anti-government protests in Tbilisi were violently dispersed on November 7, was set “to prevent the opposition from closing ranks in the remaining short space of time, and society from overcoming the syndrome of fear after the brutal suppression of the protests.”
Adding to their earlier condemnations of emergency rule and the media clampdown, Moscow criticized the date of the election as ensuring “a low voter turnout in the period of New Year and Christmas,” thereby “opening room for the falsification of election results.”
In their reply the next day—with emergency rule being lifted—the Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry accused Russia of brash hypocrisy.
“The country accusing others of incompliance with democratic standards denies the OSCE… the opportunity to monitor elections, which means that elections to the Russian State Duma will take place in the absence of international observers, perfectly in tune with the best Soviet traditions,” the ministry’s November 16 statement read.
Continuing the strongly-worded rebuttal, Tbilisi made to shed “ample light on the true objective” behind Russia’s stance on OSCE election monitoring and the northern neighbor’s comments on Georgia’s political events.
“This objective is to distract the attention of the international community and the Russian population from the simple fact that there remains not a shadow of a democratic political process in Russia, of which the best evidence is a comedy series revolving around the forthcoming ‘parliamentary elections’ in Russia and the ‘national leader’ of the country,” the statement read.
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, meanwhile, accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of hinging his campaigning on “undisguised Russophobia” and ridiculed his “stories about three spies who brought tens of thousands of protestors onto the streets of Tbilisi.”
Saakashvili blames Russia for the events of November 7, which he says came about from a Moscow-backed conspiracy to overthrow the government
“[Saakashvili] seems to have completely become lost in a virtual world where nothing prevents him from inventing the most terrible threats and dangers in order to battle them heroically. Such fantasies in the spirit of Ian Fleming would not deserve commentary, but for the maniacal striving to involve all of Georgian society in them,” the Russian ministry charged in its statement.
In closing, Moscow stated that it “regards the political processes in Georgia as an internal matter of that neighboring country, and considers it tactless to interfere in them.”
The Georgian Foreign Affairs Ministry responded by advising Moscow to make good on that stance.