Press Scanner
Compiled by Messenger Staff
Friday, March 12
Is the opposition too busy to take power?!
There is such turmoil within the opposition that they seem to have forgotten that they should oppose the Government, not each other. Moreover, even the electorate has forgotten the essence and importance of the elections due to this turmoil. Consequently the Government is gradually gaining a victory without any falsifications, Kvela Siakhle writes.
"The fact is that the opposition parties are primarily opposed to one another and we might even see a realignment of them in the near future. For instance, the whole Republican Party membership in Senaki has defected to Noghaideli’s party. Some say that Loti Kobalia is also part of it. Some say that the so called primary initiators intend to win Koka Guntsadze from the Alliance over to their side too. In a word there is great turmoil within the opposition," analyst Soso Tsiskarishvili has told the publication
"The Christian-Democrats will nominate Inga Grigolia as their candidate for Tbilisi City Council Chair. It is also clear that the opposition will not manage to agree on a single opposition candidate for Tbilisi Mayor. There are 5 or 6 nominated opposition candidates, but they are obviously controlled by the Government. Gia Chanturia has turned out to be the most sincere, because he has stated that he is not an oppositionist! He did not say he was a Government supporter either but everything is clear. These candidates will take maybe 10-15% of the vote in the elections," Tsiskarishvili continued.
Nika Ivanishvili's candidacy is especially interesting, the newspaper says. He was the head of the Traffic Police during Shevardnadze’s Government, and held a fascinating presentation of his new political party, which includes former head of Rustavi-2 and Deputy Nika Tabatadze and Vice-President of the Football Federation Rezi Arveladze. The Industrialists also intend to nominate Gogi Topadze for Tbilisi Mayor, but according to political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze the opposition has little chance if there is not a single opposition candidate.
There is also a queue of the Georgian politicians waiting the enter The Kremlin, the paper says. Noghaideli has just paid his fifth visit to Moscow. Conservative leader Zviad Dzidziguri and People’s Party leader Koba Davitashvili do not exclude visiting Moscow. Republican Tina Khidasheli has joked that the next politician to visit The Kremlin will soon be revealed through the primaries. Meanwhile, the Government is continuing its campaign and looking towards not only the local elections but the next Presidential elections too. The opposition seems to be too busy to come into power, the newspaper concludes.
Is NATO really ready to accept Georgia?
Alia writes that on March 10 Minister of Euro Atlantic Integration Giorgi Baramidze stated that NATO is ready to accept Georgia as a member and those who visit Russia and say the opposite are betrayers of their country.
How realistic is such a statement? Irakli Sesiashvili, an analyst, commented: “In order to join NATO, Georgia needs to satisfy several demands. The first is that it become a stable and democratic state. Maybe our country is a democracy in some specific respects but it is not stable. The second is that we must declare that we will only resolve conflicts peacefully. We are too unstable for NATO to discuss our accession now,” Sesiashvili said.
There is such turmoil within the opposition that they seem to have forgotten that they should oppose the Government, not each other. Moreover, even the electorate has forgotten the essence and importance of the elections due to this turmoil. Consequently the Government is gradually gaining a victory without any falsifications, Kvela Siakhle writes.
"The fact is that the opposition parties are primarily opposed to one another and we might even see a realignment of them in the near future. For instance, the whole Republican Party membership in Senaki has defected to Noghaideli’s party. Some say that Loti Kobalia is also part of it. Some say that the so called primary initiators intend to win Koka Guntsadze from the Alliance over to their side too. In a word there is great turmoil within the opposition," analyst Soso Tsiskarishvili has told the publication
"The Christian-Democrats will nominate Inga Grigolia as their candidate for Tbilisi City Council Chair. It is also clear that the opposition will not manage to agree on a single opposition candidate for Tbilisi Mayor. There are 5 or 6 nominated opposition candidates, but they are obviously controlled by the Government. Gia Chanturia has turned out to be the most sincere, because he has stated that he is not an oppositionist! He did not say he was a Government supporter either but everything is clear. These candidates will take maybe 10-15% of the vote in the elections," Tsiskarishvili continued.
Nika Ivanishvili's candidacy is especially interesting, the newspaper says. He was the head of the Traffic Police during Shevardnadze’s Government, and held a fascinating presentation of his new political party, which includes former head of Rustavi-2 and Deputy Nika Tabatadze and Vice-President of the Football Federation Rezi Arveladze. The Industrialists also intend to nominate Gogi Topadze for Tbilisi Mayor, but according to political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze the opposition has little chance if there is not a single opposition candidate.
There is also a queue of the Georgian politicians waiting the enter The Kremlin, the paper says. Noghaideli has just paid his fifth visit to Moscow. Conservative leader Zviad Dzidziguri and People’s Party leader Koba Davitashvili do not exclude visiting Moscow. Republican Tina Khidasheli has joked that the next politician to visit The Kremlin will soon be revealed through the primaries. Meanwhile, the Government is continuing its campaign and looking towards not only the local elections but the next Presidential elections too. The opposition seems to be too busy to come into power, the newspaper concludes.
Is NATO really ready to accept Georgia?
Alia writes that on March 10 Minister of Euro Atlantic Integration Giorgi Baramidze stated that NATO is ready to accept Georgia as a member and those who visit Russia and say the opposite are betrayers of their country.
How realistic is such a statement? Irakli Sesiashvili, an analyst, commented: “In order to join NATO, Georgia needs to satisfy several demands. The first is that it become a stable and democratic state. Maybe our country is a democracy in some specific respects but it is not stable. The second is that we must declare that we will only resolve conflicts peacefully. We are too unstable for NATO to discuss our accession now,” Sesiashvili said.