103rd place in democracy standings

The Georgian authorities are keen to announce some ratings showing the successes of the country. For instance, recently the authorities were boasting that Georgia was a leader in reforms worldwide. But there are other ratings as well, which are not so pleasant for the ruling administration. Among 167 countries Georgia holds 103rd place from the point of view of democracy. There is nothing to be proud about here and it vividly shows that the Georgian democracy is far from perfect and there is much to be done in this direction if we are to realise the slogan of National Movement. The result mentioned above was given by the analytical research company of the British magazine The Economist, which was published under the title Democracy Index 2010. The research is based on five major indicators. These are elections code and pluralism, the government conduct, political involvement, political culture and civil freedom. They observed 167 countries and found that Georgia is under a hybrid regime. It is just above the 4th group uniting autocratic regimes.

Ahead of Georgia are such countries as Kenya, Cambodia, Uganda, and Nicaragua and so on. If there is any comfort in this we can mention that Georgia is ahead of Russia which comes 107th and Armenia which is 109th. Officially, Tbilisi very calmly assessed the results of the rating. Deputy Chairman of the parliament, commenting on the results, mentioned that this shows that there is much to be done and that we are in the process of doing it. “Journalists as well as society are used to Georgia being among the best, so we promise that in some years we will be on the top,” stated Mikheil Machavariani to the journalists. The Deputy Chairman also highlighted that parliament is currently working on laws on elections as well as media.

The opposition is mainly concerned about the issue of elections. It has been advised that the ruling party prove its claim for democracy by conducting the parliamentary elections of 2012 to a highly democratic level. It is not only the declaration of democracy but it is actual performance which is most valid. Christian Democrat MP Levan Vepkhvadze reminds the ruling authority that the major problem for Georgia's integration into NATO and European structures is not only the Russian Federation but also its own style of governing here in Georgia. Analysts also point out different discrepancies in the court system, elections system and media, where there are a series of reforms to be implemented. Significantly, these are the issues which have been highlighted several times by our friends either from NATO or EU and US.