2 year anniversary of GD government
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, October 2
In a special address on October 2, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili spoke about his party’s achievements. He stressed that Georgians chose life without fear on October 1 and that coalition founder Bidzina Ivanishvili’s role in the change was essential.
The Prime Minister admitted that not everything was ideal in the transitional stage, but nothing can prevent Georgia’s development.
“We passed through two significant years with problems and challenges. But we managed to do it. We put our country on the right path to development and achieved significant progress in all fields from healthcare and education to agriculture and the rule of law. We implemented very significant reforms,” Gharibahvili said.
Gharibashvili stated that the independence and strength of the media determines the strength of the democracy.
“Our government has created all the conditions necessary to strengthen civil society and free media. The independence and strength of the media determines the strength of the democracy. I am proud that Georgia holds the top spot among eastern partnership countries in terms of media independence,” Gharibashvili said.
It is necessary to deepen democratic processes, President Giorgi Margvelashvili said on Wednesday while commenting on the second anniversary of the Georgian Dream’s victory.
The ministers shared the vision expressed by the Prime Minister. They repeated that a new, free and democratic stage has started in Georgia since the 2012 parliamentary elections. Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili focused on signing the Association Agreement with the EU and NATO Wales Summit achievements. He admitted that the current governed should strengthen its relations with media to show off the government’s success more.
Along with the government members’ positive evaluations, the UNM members strongly criticized the government. MP Nugzar Tsiklauri stated that the government’s main challenge was related to social-economic issues and they completely failed in this regard. He also stated that the government did not fulfill most of its campaign promises. Fellow UNM member Sergo Ratiani said that instead of improving problematic issues, the government introduces more complicity, like visa-related amendments and medical prescriptions.
Analyst Khatuna Lagazidze believes that major achievements of the current government are the EU Association Agreement, ending confrontation rhetoric with Russia and the Shah-Deniz 2 project participation. She also admits that freedom of expression, the media, business, and the court now have merit. When it comes to gaps, the analyst suggests that the current government should pay more attention to security issues. According to her, there are no limits or restrictions for Russian propaganda and other fifth column activities. Lagazidze also thinks that the current government is too critical to those, who express different views.
