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Compiled by Messenger Staff
Monday, May 24
Ramaz Sakvarelidze – America sacrificed Georgia long ago
"The period of American pragmatism towards the Caucasus and Georgia started earlier than we think. When the USA recognised Kosovo, despite Putin’s warning, it sacrificed Georgia. We should also remember the role of America during the August War. While we regarded America as the main partner of Georgia, it was rather passive during the August War," political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze states in an interview with Akhali Taoba.
"The Republican Party states that the Obama Administration has sacrificed Georgia. This statement was made to serve the interests of the Republican Party, not Georgia. The abovementioned steps were taken by the Republican Party and I cannot say that Georgia was not scarified …" Sakvarelidze continues.
"Recent events indicate that Russia has already done all it wants to in terms of Georgia. By means of the August War Russia showed the West and the USA that they cannot protect their partner states when Russia decides to confront one. Russia has deployed its troops on the territory of Georgia and since the August War significant strategic and economic facilities have been put under Russian control.
"We have the impression that Russia does not have any other plan except conquering Georgia. In fact Russia has many significant goals. But its goals in relation of Georgia have already been achieved. As for the removal of the present Georgian Government, there are discussions underway in Russia on this," Ramaz Sakvarelidze states.
Asked to comment on the notion that Russia wants the Georgian Government to stay in power Sakvarelidze states, "Many suppose that the present Georgian Government is useful to Russia because it is weakened and achieves nothing in the international arena. Russia spends millions keeping Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has already started counting money. We should expect that at some point Russia will try to rid itself of these expenditures, and the only way out of that very peculiar situation is to return Abkhazia and South Ossetia back to Georgia. Russia will try to hand the economic burden over to someone else without reducing its influence over the territories, as this will present Russia to the world as a peacekeeper. I therefore expect Russia will change its policy, and there are certain signs of this. Let’s take as an example the contacts between the Georgian opposition and MIA with Russia. Russia is endeavouring to turn itself into a smiling bear rather than a stern one," Sakvarelidze concludes.
Salome Zourabichvili – The public will be responsible for the outcome of the elections
"We have not been provided either with the verified electoral lists or the list of duplicated names. This means that multiple voting will take place anyway," Salome Zourabichvili, leader of The Way of Georgia, states in an interview with Rezonansi.
"We gave the names of only about 170 ‘dead souls’ to the CEC but we did not have the opportunity to verify anything. The majority of the lists were not corrected... We worked hard to monitor the electoral lists, and want to be given the opportunity to become confident that the corrections we made have been taken into account by the CEC. We presented the opposition demands about verifying the corrections in the lists to foreign observers and organisations but cannot see that our corrections have been considered by the CEC yet. The CEC has not given any explanation of this yet," - Salome Zourabichvili says.
"We are conducting a battle against the authorities, who always falsify the elections. The more we correct, the more they falsify. We will not be able to verify all the electoral lists but will fight to the end in the elections. We will monitor the polling stations and not allow anyone to falsify the elections," she continues.
"I share the opinion of the National Forum that biometric passports will reduce falsification. There is not an ideal electoral environment in the country but we should not be afraid of anything. The strongest weapon we have is the electors preventing falsifications. Fear and indifference will be the biggest electoral crimes. The public will be responsible for the outcome of the elections," Salome Zourabichvili adds.
"The period of American pragmatism towards the Caucasus and Georgia started earlier than we think. When the USA recognised Kosovo, despite Putin’s warning, it sacrificed Georgia. We should also remember the role of America during the August War. While we regarded America as the main partner of Georgia, it was rather passive during the August War," political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze states in an interview with Akhali Taoba.
"The Republican Party states that the Obama Administration has sacrificed Georgia. This statement was made to serve the interests of the Republican Party, not Georgia. The abovementioned steps were taken by the Republican Party and I cannot say that Georgia was not scarified …" Sakvarelidze continues.
"Recent events indicate that Russia has already done all it wants to in terms of Georgia. By means of the August War Russia showed the West and the USA that they cannot protect their partner states when Russia decides to confront one. Russia has deployed its troops on the territory of Georgia and since the August War significant strategic and economic facilities have been put under Russian control.
"We have the impression that Russia does not have any other plan except conquering Georgia. In fact Russia has many significant goals. But its goals in relation of Georgia have already been achieved. As for the removal of the present Georgian Government, there are discussions underway in Russia on this," Ramaz Sakvarelidze states.
Asked to comment on the notion that Russia wants the Georgian Government to stay in power Sakvarelidze states, "Many suppose that the present Georgian Government is useful to Russia because it is weakened and achieves nothing in the international arena. Russia spends millions keeping Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has already started counting money. We should expect that at some point Russia will try to rid itself of these expenditures, and the only way out of that very peculiar situation is to return Abkhazia and South Ossetia back to Georgia. Russia will try to hand the economic burden over to someone else without reducing its influence over the territories, as this will present Russia to the world as a peacekeeper. I therefore expect Russia will change its policy, and there are certain signs of this. Let’s take as an example the contacts between the Georgian opposition and MIA with Russia. Russia is endeavouring to turn itself into a smiling bear rather than a stern one," Sakvarelidze concludes.
Salome Zourabichvili – The public will be responsible for the outcome of the elections
"We have not been provided either with the verified electoral lists or the list of duplicated names. This means that multiple voting will take place anyway," Salome Zourabichvili, leader of The Way of Georgia, states in an interview with Rezonansi.
"We gave the names of only about 170 ‘dead souls’ to the CEC but we did not have the opportunity to verify anything. The majority of the lists were not corrected... We worked hard to monitor the electoral lists, and want to be given the opportunity to become confident that the corrections we made have been taken into account by the CEC. We presented the opposition demands about verifying the corrections in the lists to foreign observers and organisations but cannot see that our corrections have been considered by the CEC yet. The CEC has not given any explanation of this yet," - Salome Zourabichvili says.
"We are conducting a battle against the authorities, who always falsify the elections. The more we correct, the more they falsify. We will not be able to verify all the electoral lists but will fight to the end in the elections. We will monitor the polling stations and not allow anyone to falsify the elections," she continues.
"I share the opinion of the National Forum that biometric passports will reduce falsification. There is not an ideal electoral environment in the country but we should not be afraid of anything. The strongest weapon we have is the electors preventing falsifications. Fear and indifference will be the biggest electoral crimes. The public will be responsible for the outcome of the elections," Salome Zourabichvili adds.