Leninism, OSCE mission and fair elections

Instead of a civilized pre-election environment, the OSCE Mission witnessed a fierce battlefield where a brutal battle has been unleashed for gaining victory. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly officials expressed their concern regarding the arbitrary decisions and severe fines targeted mainly at selected political subjects. It also expressed its concern about the court system and left the country with the hope of creating equal conditions for all participating entities in the elections.

The mission once again stated that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be decisive in the democratic flow of the country. One can read between the lines and guess that the international observers from overseas were unsatisfied with the pre-election conditions in the country. OSCE observers were not convinced by the actions conducted by the State Audit Agency, in particular when it is biased and one-sided. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly authorities still hope that during the remaining several weeks, the country will facilitate democratic elections in Georgia. The ruling United National Movement was of course upset for these comments, it especially became infuriated by the word Leninism which the OSCE officials used to describe the situation in Georgia.

OSCE PA President Riccardo Migliori told journalists that Leninism exists in a situation where no programs are presented by the parties and when there are attempts to destroy the enemies. Minister of Culture, Nika Rurua, even called Migliori’s expression rubbish. However, later corrected his wording, explaining what he meant. The officials mainly insisted that the OSCE delegation received the wrong information, explaining this by the activities of the so-called lobbyist organizations employed by Georgian Dream Coalition leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

It is the first time when an extremely critical evaluation has been offered on the Georgian political reality. So, of course the ruling party should use commonsense and try to immediately improve the situation– not only superficially, but deeply, changing the essence of the situation. The ruling Rose administration is at a crossroads: it should decide what its priorities are– either it is retaining the governance at any expense or it needs to confirm its pro-democratic claims and goals of holding transparent and fair elections.

So far, it appears that Saakashvili’s priority is to preserve the leadership in the country. The aim is very clear, they have to win and win solidly, presumably, at any expense. How the ruling party would handle the situation is difficult to say now, but the stakes are very high.