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Compiled by Londa Mindiashvili
Friday, April 24
Is Georgia a failed state?

Kvela Siakhle reports that according to eyewitnesses of the recent late night attack on protestors the masked attackers cried: “You will not be able to take Georgia away!” Of course, the aggressors must be unmasked and punished, the paper says, but it is very important to find out why the Government and its supporters’ think that Georgia belongs to them. The opposition and their supporters think that the people lost the country after the Rose Revolution and are now fighting to regain it.

One of the main arguments used by the Government’s supporters is that Georgia became a fully functioning state only after the Rose Revolution and cast behind it its reputation as a failed state. However this seems to be a bluff by the United National Movement. Georgia has received billions in aid from international donors recently and this is all the country lives on. The European Union, UN and OSCE have to maintain monitoring missions here because of the territorial conflicts in Georgia, another sign that a state is not functioning properly, the paper says.

As a rule, failed states have internal socio-economic and political problems that endanger their unity. Many experts consider that the removal of peoples’ rights is another sign of a failed state. There are many similar signs in Georgia, the paper says.



Teachers in Gali told to join Baghapsh’s party

Rezonansi writes that teachers living in Gali are being told to join the political party of Sergey Baghapsh, President of the de facto Republic of Abkhazia. According to a reliable source the headmasters of Gali schools have been given two forms for each teacher. One is a citizenship application and the other is an application to join the party. The teachers have not signed them yet.

Sergey Baghapsh seeks a second term as President and is beginning to gather his support.



Kakha Baindurashvili – there will be no budget problems

Akhali Taoba writes that according to the Minister of Finance Kakha Baindurashvili there will be no problem with fulfilling the budget not only in the next few days but throughout the year. Baindurashvili stated this after a Government meeting. The Minister states there is residual money in the treasury.

The main issue discussed at the Government meeting was agriculture. This will become the most urgent priority very soon. The Minister of Agriculture has been given various missions to fulfil.