Press Release

Press Release

01/12/2009



Salome Zourabichvili, the leader of the Way of Georgia, addresses the key problems concerning the Georgian business sector and the forthcoming elections:



“The main subject of today's conference is the economy and the business environment. For the first time the Vice President of the EBRD stated that our country's business sector is in a difficult and complex state and stressed the need for the government to respect the rule of law concerning property rights.



“Although the World Bank has published statistics that portray Georgia as a reform-oriented country, this does not necessarily indicate the existence of trust in the business sector. It is common practice for the government to act in favour of certain companies or investors to the detriment of others. There are frequent reports of seizures of disadvantaged companies' assets, including property, which are later found in the ownership of the government's favoured companies.



“Turning our attention to the road construction industry, governmental business officials have done exactly that; they have taken a major construction contract from an Israeli company called Astrom and awarded it to Azerin Saatservisiis, owned by Vano Chkartishvili. Astrom was due to build the first and fourth section of the Manglisi-Ninotsminda road, yet without putting it to tender, Azerin Saatservisiis now owns the rights to that part of the project. Another example of this is the Gombori road construction project where an Arabian company, which formally won the contract, has lost out to Vano Merabishvili's company 'New Energy', which has taken over the contract. Even large, high profile companies such as Kazbegi, Elit Electronics, Geocell, Magti and Caucasus Online are subject to intense government pressure that forces them to kowtow to the government's influences.



“The government likes to draw our attention to Georgia's successes in investment; as a result of which, we are to believe that our country is to benefit from the 100 new hospitals that the government has fervently been promising us for some time now. They have laid plans to sell two hospitals – one in December and another in February – yet there has been no information on this made available to either the foreign investors or the Georgian public. It is clear that as well as an obvious lack of transparency, there is also a very tenuous and superficial relationship with legality in this sector. Therefore, perhaps unsurprisingly, investment has been significantly lower than it may otherwise have been.



“One of the key countries to benefit this legally lax approach to business is Russia. During my time in government, Zurab Jvania fought to curb the rampant spread of casinos and gambling arcades in order to inhibit the Russians' ability to launder money in Georgia. Despite his best efforts, the law was changed, and Georgian casinos are now the destination of choice for Russian money-launderers.



“The second subject I want to address today is the next elections. As the government has begun its election campaign, businesses have been pressurised into funding the ruling party at the expense of reinvestment in the Georgian economy.



“In a manner reminiscent of the Soviet era, the ruling party has plastered the capital city in propaganda, claiming success in all its promises, despite the fact that the vast majority of these dreams have never been realised. Our land has not been returned to us and we are still fighting desperately high levels of poverty. Not only is the government making claims that are untrue, they are doing so with our money.



“I want to urge every single person in the Opposition to fight this injustice with all our might during the election campaign. Elections, be they local, parliamentary or presidential, are our chance to fight against the National Movement for the Georgian people. We need to start fighting today because these elections are our last chance. We need to ask ourselves this: Do we want to continue with this system and drown or do we want to survive? The Opposition needs to prepare for a showdown with the government. Now is not the time for thought; it is the time for action!”

Salome Zourabichvili in the USA

Georgia Teeters on the Edge
Kari Lipschutz | Bio | 25 Nov 2009

Being an opposition party leader in a country where the media doesn't pay attention to the opposition is frustrating. So when Georgia's former Foreign Minister Salomé Zourabichvili had the chance to speak at her alma mater, Columbia University, in New York, her searing criticism of the Georgian government came as no surprise. Zourabichvili's political adversary, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, also attended Columbia, but that is where the similarities between the two end. As the leader of the political party, The Way of Georgia, Zourabichvili is fighting to stop what she believes to be the demise of the Georgian state under Saakashvili's hand.

Zourabichvili says her efforts to bring attention to the mounting problems in Tbilisi have not been easy. "Nobody wants to hear. There is a Georgia fatigue in general," she said. She recognizes that Georgia has lost any bargaining power it may have once had and sees a need to work from within to stabilize the country. In her talk, Zourabichvili discussed in detail many of the same issues facing Georgia that she outlined in a New York Times op-ed piece in April: Georgia's turn toward authoritarianism, a disregard for the constitution, and the lack of legitimate state institutions (e.g., the army, the police, the entire judiciary branch).

In a conversation laden with skepticism, Zourabichvili did offer some constructive suggestions that might allow Georgia to reverse its current course.

First, private property protections. Currently there are none: The government can seize what it wants, when it wants, making it impossible for business, both foreign and domestic, to thrive. By comparison, she pointed to neighboring Azerbaijan's role as the financial hub of the Caucasus, due to an atmosphere designed to foster business. (Azerbaijan was rated one of the top 10 reformers in the World Bank's "Doing Business 2009"; Georgia was not even close to making the cut.)

Second, in areas such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia, negotiations must proceed. But to avoid scaring separatists away from constructive talks, Zourabichvili believes Georgia should avoid "reintegration" rhetoric. Having championed efforts in the early 1990s to remove a Russian base from Georgia, Zourabichvili said, "I think anything can be negotiated."

Lastly, development in conflict zones. In order to stabilize Georgia's problem areas, generate business, and develop legitimate government institutions, Zourabichvili says that building up weaker areas of the country will make them less susceptible to outside influence.

The one great hope for Georgia, Zourabichvili says, is the media. She strongly believes that the Georgian people are more democratic than their leadership. If given the right tools, such as free media, they could make informed decisions on where to go from here. (By contrast, the European Journalism Center blames Georgia's media problems on the lack of a clear opposition than on direct censorship.)

Local elections planned for May are almost certainly doomed without a media that covers both sides, Zourabichvili says. And if the elections fail, that could be the last straw for an intact Georgia. "I'm not sure that the Georgian state will survive until 2013," she said.

Memorandum

Memorandum


We have been for years using all our peaceful resources in order to protest the path taken by Georgian authorities away from the promises of Rose Revolution and against the dramatic tendency to push Georgia back towards practices and models of a past age and system.

And November 7th, 2007 proved us unfortunately right.

We have in due time warned our foreign friends about the dangers that an increasingly authoritarian government and its military populist rhetoric were creating for the peaceful resolution of conflicts, moving us towards military confrontation. We warned against the choice made during the January 2008 elections by the international community in favor of stability over democracy, when a well deserved second round of the presidential elections received no support; we were claiming that there couldnot be lasting Stability without Democracy.

And August 7th, 2008, proved us unfortunately right.

Despite having started a war, lost territories and caused tragedy, Saakashvili did not admit to be answerable. Even confronted by 114 days of peaceful demonstrations, he did not admit responsibility in the tragedy he failed to prevent.The call from his people was not enough to understand the necessity to restore by its own deeds and actions its legitimacy. The past 100 days since the visit of Vice president Biden, demonstrations have stopped and we have seen consolidation of the repressive apparatus, control over media and business, and fear has returned. The country is ruled but not governed.

The course taken by authorities that make a mockery of Democracy, of commitments and of pledges to the different organizations we are pretending to be aspiring to, is one that drags Georgia further and further away from the edification of a strong, democratic and European type state. All state institutions – Government, parliament, police, Army, judiciary- have progressively lost credibility and trust as has the government; and the ruling clanic elite is more and more intrincated in corruptive schemes designed to help it retain power at any cost. The country gets weaker and weaker.

Today, once more, Georgia is confronted to a very immediate threat that defies both its democracy and its stability, and may be its independence.


In order to compensate for the country’s weakness and for his lack of internal and international legitimacy, Saakashvili has embarked on a very dangerous path: stirring confrontation as a means to distract from internal failures and state collapse.

The official and publicly proclaimed policy of actively supporting the struggle of North Caucasian fighters is another adventure that might prove disastrous, both for Georgia and North Caucasus. For it amounts to provoking Russia on its own territory. The creation of a Russian language TV station “Caucasia” supposed to reach North Caucasian republics and preach resistance to Russsian oppression is as irresponsible as declarations made by Georgian authorities. This new “crusade” will allow Moscow to present any agression/repression as a legitimate self defense against terrorism. Accusations voiced in Moscow about Pankissi Valley and Georgian secret services fomenting Daghestani explosions are already pointing in that direction.

How Russia can exploit such a situation is only too clear. Why Georgian leaders are playing in their hand is not.

Such a policy from Georgia, can only serve those in Russia that are looking for a good occasion to start a new offensive. This new vicious circle, which might have a very high cost for North Caucasians and could threaten Georgia’s independence, causing serious regional instability, should be prevented NOW.

We are appealing to you and to your respective governments in order to adequately react to the irresponsible acts and words of a regime that is already in agony.

Only by promoting peace and not war can Georgia serve its friends in the northern Caucasus. Only a stable and democratic Georgia can help stabilize the region.



Salomé ZOURABICHVILI



“The Way of Georgia”

November 7, 2009

Salome Zurabishvili holds meetings in U.S.

Salome Zurabishvili holds meetings in U.S.
20.11.09 11:00


The leader of the opposition party the Georgian Way holds meetings in Washington. Salome Zurabishvili will attend the EU-U.S. forum in Washington today and deliver a speech regarding the democracy in Georgia. She will also hold meetings in the U.S. Congress.
Salome Zurabishvili plans to meet with the U.S. undersecretary of state, Tina Kaidanow.
Salome Zurabichvili has already held meetings with some congressional representatives and political analysts and discussed the political situation in Georgia.
`From the meetings which I held in the congress, USAID, NDI and other organizations, I made one conclusion that today they have more healthy approach to the situation in Georgia and they can see the real situation in Georgia more clearly,` Salome Zurabishvili said.

Salome Zurabishvili holds meetings in U.S.

Tuesday November 17th, 2009
15.30 : meeting at the Hotel with John Wood from the German Marshall Fund (GMF)

17h00: meeting with senior advisor for Europe and Eurasia, Majority staff, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Jason Bruder.
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
9 to 10.30 AM : Roundtable at the Brookings Institute

11.30-12.15 AM : Meeting with congressman WEXLER, House of representatives

12.30 to 1.45 : Luncheon with Paul Goble (TBC)

2 to 3 PM : Meeting with Zbigniew Brzezinski

4.30 to 5.30 : Meeting with Edmund Rhoads, Senior program Manager, NDI National Democratic Institute

6.30 PM : Dinner offered by HE the Swedish ambassador for the EU Washington Forum Keynote adress by Senator John Lugar.

Thursday, November 19th , 2009

10 AM : opening of the EU Washington Forum
http://www.iss.europa.eu/nc/actualites/actualite/article/eu-washington-forum-2009/

Friday, November 20th , 2009

10 AM: EU Washington Forum; Panel on Democracy and Human Rights (speaker Salome Zourabichvili)

1 PM : State department , meeting with Tina Kaidanow, deputy assistant secretary of state.

1.30 to 2.30: Round table with State department officials dealing with Georgia.

3 PM : Meeting with Steve Sestanovic , Council on Foreign Relations

4 15 PM: Meeting with Cory Welt,

Departure for NYC

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

1 -2.30 pm : Speech at Columbia University, Harriman Institute

What Lessons Should Georgians Draw From War Probe Findings?

October 02, 2009 By Salome ZurabishviliThe conclusions of the independent commission on the August 2008 war in Georgia, released in a report on September 30, should not only be noted by the European Union, which mandated the report, but should also give all parties grounds for serious thought.
The basic question of who was responsible for the conflict has long been answered. The leaders of both Russia and Georgia are at fault: the Russians for provoking rather than avoiding armed conflict, and then for overreacting, and the Georgian leader for launching a disastrous military attack and thus triggering what ended as a disaster for Georgia and for thousands of civilians.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is personally responsible to his people for having launched the military aggression against Tskhinvali, and thereby giving Russia a free hand to enter, occupy, and formally recognize the independence of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
This judgment was passed by the vast majority of the Georgian people months before the commission led by diplomat Heidi Tagliavini made its conclusions public. The sentence was pronounced this spring, when for some 100 days hundreds of thousands of Georgians participated in repeated demonstrations to demand that Saakashvili resign and schedule early presidential elections.
A president who brought destruction on his country because of his misguided and willful decisions should answer for those actions and be held responsible. There will undoubtedly be further mass protests with the aim of forcing Saakashvili to comply with international norms and bow to the will of his people.
What has changed with the Tagliavini commission's findings is that this judgment has been legitimized and accepted by the international community; neither the Georgian president nor the Russian authorities are immune from blame and responsibility.
Time To Move Forward
As a democratic opposition leader, I think that our duty to both Georgian and international opinion is to confront this reality and try to move on from there.
If in the future we ever want to renew ties with the populations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whoever succeeds Saakashvili will have to address the consequences of his actions. We shall have to ask for forgiveness for the assault upon Tskhinvali. We, the opposition -- if we are given the responsibility for Georgia's destiny -- will have to face up to the fact that, albeit to a much lesser extent, we too bear responsibility for not having more effectively opposed Saakashvili's bellicose rhetoric and instincts.
For the Georgian opposition, this entails speaking the truth about the war without fear of being branded a "Russian fifth column" by government propaganda. Trying to portray any opposition movement as a Trojan horse acting in the interest of foreign foes is and will remain a hallmark of Saakashvili's rule. We should have understood by now that such allegations typify the deceptive nature of Saakashvili's style of government.
Acknowledging Russia's share of responsibility in infringing upon Georgia's sovereignty, we should also seek ways to end this confrontation and start to rebuild a new relationship based on harsh truth, rather than on demagogic lies on both sides.
Beyond our borders, our friends too have to reconcile themselves to the report's findings, which most of them already knew, but did not fully want to admit to. The first clear lesson is that while Saakashvili may cast himself as the strongest detractor of Vladimir Putin, that alone does not make him a better democrat, or a better candidate for preserving stability in a crucial region on Europe's distant borders.
In fact, the August war was, if anything, a war between autocrats. This war took place precisely because neither country applied democratic decision-making procedures before resorting to military force.
Clear Demands Needed
Since both regimes are still in place, another disaster is not out of the question. In order to prevent such a repetition and new confrontation and destabilization, Europe and the United States should make clear what they expect and require from the two perpetrators.
From Saakashvili, nothing less than real progress towards democracy should be demanded. This is also what the vast majority of the Georgian population has been demanding since the Rose Revolution of November 2003. The demonstrations which have regularly taken place since November 2007 testify to the Georgian people's yearning for genuine democratic rule.
Western governments should make their demands clear: media freedom, a truly independent judiciary, the protection of private property. But official promises should no longer be taken at face value: Western governments should impose strict conditions on any form of financial assistance.
From Russia, respect for existing agreements should be one of the conditions for a true "reset" of relations with the West. The question of the preexisting conflict zones and their return to Georgia is not one that can realistically be addressed at the present time. It should and will be discussed at some future date as one component of a global discussion of European security. Abkhazia and South Ossetia will return to Georgian control only as part of a grand bargain between Europe, Russia, and the United States.
The same does not hold true, however, of the two regions that were "forcibly occupied and annexed" during last summer's war and kept in violation of the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreements. Russia should be called on to return to the positions it occupied before August 7. The Akhalgori/Ksani and Liakhvi valleys on the South Ossetian side and the Kodori valley adjacent to Abkhazia are currently occupied in blatant violation of the agreement Moscow signed with the EU presidency. The Tagliavini report rightly points out that Kodori was not under Abkhaz control prior to that date, nor was the Georgian side responsible for launching the aggression there.
We in the Georgian democratic opposition do not for one moment doubt that Ambassador Tagliavini and her colleagues were inspired by the quest for truth and objectivity, and the desire to promote political stability and the rule of law. But their report will effectively serve peace and stability in the region only if we regard it as offering new dimensions to think about our common future. If we do not, it will remain no more than 1,000 pages of print that mask the EU's unwillingness to engage itself with greater determination, which by partially substantiating the one-sided arguments of both Russia and Georgia could trigger a renewed confrontation in the Caucasus.
We want that report to mark a new beginning for all conflict parties. Only then will the effort and expenditure that went into the report not have been in vain.
Salome Zurabishvili served from 2004-2005 as Georgia's foreign minister. She currently heads the opposition political party Georgia's Way. The views expressed in this commentary are her own, and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.

Sunshine Democrats by Salome Zourabichvili

09.17.2009

EMAIL ARTICLE | PRINTER FRIENDLY


The dilemma of the recent Afghan presidential election that is beguiling the West looks like a repetition to Georgian eyes.

In January 2008, we too had a very questionable presidential election. We too had a previously popular president—and yet he barely garnered 45 percent of the vote in the initial count, despite controlling all the administrative resources, and obvious and less-obvious frauds. We too had a situation where the opposition appeared less familiar and less predictable than the incumbent government. Like Afghanistan, Georgia witnessed the rise of corruption in the form of fraudulent votes, but it was said to be a benign local characteristic, not an illness that should be eradicated.

While Georgians voted, the mood in Washington was one of caution. Should America condemn Tbilisi’s poll and risk stability in the region for the sake of an ideal democracy? Especially one that might be out of reach for some time?

The answer in Georgia’s case was a blunt no. Before the votes were fully counted, the U.S. envoy congratulated the incumbent president, Mikheil Saakashvili, upon his reelection. The American head of a team of election observers followed suit, and Saakashvili’s final count went up to an unexpected 53 percent. For the Georgian opposition and public opinion alike, it meant that the game was over, despite demonstrations calling for a much-deserved second round election. There would not be a second chance for Georgian democracy.

Our Western partners, however, assumed stability in the Caucasus had been preserved, and that Georgia could have another try at democracy in its parliamentary elections the following spring. But both assumptions proved wrong. The region was thrown into chaos in August 2008, when Saakashvili walked into the Kremlin’s trap and fought a war with Russia over South Ossetia. Meanwhile, democratic freedoms were curbed throughout the country, making the outcome of the parliamentary election illegitimate. The opposition refused to take its seats, so as not to condone the mock vote.

A year and a half later, Georgia is a mess—with both permanent internal turmoil and permanent confrontation with its northern neighbor. Stability and democracy seem as far away as ever.

America should think hard on this lesson from the Caucasus and apply it to Afghanistan. Prematurely barring a second round between President Hamid Karzai and his primary challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, shows a lack of trust in the mechanisms of democracy. It prevents the political opposition from emerging as a credible alternative (which, not so incidentally, is the main criticism aimed at the Georgian opposition today). It also does little to convince the population that democracy is an effective means of governance. And it means a rising indifference and hostility to the very Western allies who preach democracy, but only up to a point—as they appear more concerned with protecting powerful friends than the promotion of the principles they claim to defend. Skepticism and cynicism of the electoral process are hardly feelings America should want to spread amongst the peoples of a nascent democracy.

Georgia went through this sordid process in the past year. Afghanistan shouldn’t have to. The lesson is clear—lasting peace and stability cannot come without democracy. Washington should be a firmer believer in the form of government it preaches, whether that be in Kabul or Tbilisi.



Salome Zourabichvili served as Georgia’s minister of foreign affairs from 2004–2005. She is now in the democratic opposition and is leader of The Way of Georgia political party.

Video

Salome Zourabichvili, former Georgian foreign minister and leader of The Way of Georgia party on the choice facing Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili after the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden

http://georgiamediacentre.com/

The Saakashvili paradox

The Saakashvili paradox

Your View, August 10th 2009, 9:00 pm

This is a guest post by Salomé Zourabichvili

A year ago, Georgia was the place where for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian troops marched into an independent country. They demonstrated to the world that Russia had recovered power and the will to exert it. And for a few days, the world was wondering where the Russian army would stop.

A year ago, Georgia was the first place where the EU, through its acting president, Mr Sarkozy, managed to broker a cease fire that, despite its many flaws, still holds now. The EU demonstrated that peace in Europe was a concept worth defending and where the EU could make a difference.

A year ago, the United States, represented by an outgoing administration, reacted relatively passively, allowing European nations to take the lead in facilitating the dialogue between Georgia and Russia. The question is whether our European friends and allies will take a lead in rebuilding Georgia’s shattered democracy one year on.

A year ago, President Saakashvili managed after 6 months of protests, demonstrations and disputed elections to shut out the opposition claiming that the defence of Georgian independence was at stake. Georgia lost a fifth of her territories and suffered an economic collapse but the regime managed to cling to power.

What has changed today? In appearance nothing; tension is back at the border, daily provocations might trigger an escalation; now as then, nobody knows to which side to attribute the responsibility of this confrontation; and again the question arises: could a new war erupt in the heat of summer in this remote part of Europe?

However, despite appearances, many things have changed: the relationship between the US and Russia is no longer compared to the cold war as it was at the end of the Bush administration. The Obama factor has produced some effect already - the Russians know that they have more to gain from the “Restart” button than they would from a new conflict. His Moscow visit has not solved things, but it has raised possibilities that neither side would want to shatter yet.

The Russians have got all they wanted and maybe more: the borders have moved deep into Georgian territory making their leverage even more pregnant. They have recognised the separatist entities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and have thus used the ultimate threat against Georgia. It is less probable that they would like to conquer more Georgian territory and have to occupy a hostile and fiercely independent country. They would have more on their hands as they cannot decide what to do with those “very new” independent states that nobody wants to recognise and that they are unable either to totally absorb or to relinquish.

As for the idea that Prime Minister Putin or President Medvedev might go to war in order to finish the job and get rid of President Saakashvili, it is an argument for Saakashvili, by Saakashvili.

The reality is different, for there is a “Saakashvili paradox” that reads as follows: having lost much of his legitimacy within and most of his international credit outside, he is the Georgian leader the Russians hate most, but also their best objective ally.

He has managed to give Russia everything they want: NATO membership for Georgia has moved from a feasible project to a distant possibility; 20% of our territories have been lost and seem for many to be lost for ever. The Georgian economy has, through an opaque privatisation process, been transferred mostly to Russian hands and western investment is more of a myth than a reality. Finally, as Freedom House and others have demonstrated Georgia has moved from the promising democracy of the Rose Revolution to an increasingly authoritarian state that can no longer exert a positive role model on Russia.

Ironically, President Saakashvili is the most helpful leader the Kremlin could wish for.

For the President, the threat of war is the last resort to raise European interest and American support for ‘small Georgia’ by making it appear as a victim of its big and imperial neighbour, while hiding the failures of its democratic process.

The threat of war is one of the last cards that an illegitimate regime can use to force the opposition to a demonstration of national unity and get a temporary popularity boost.

The prospect of war can be handy for Russia too. President Medvedev could be tempted to deliver nationalist propaganda to a population that is going through a deep economic and social crisis.

Now, unlike a year ago, there is no rationale for a war; for it cannot achieve any of the real objectives of either country. But now as then, two undemocratic regimes can use mutual belligerence for political profit.

Of the two, Georgia pretends to be democratic. It wants to be considered as a part of the European family. But it should be made clear to President Saakashvili that time has come to stop playing with fire and blackmailing friends. Time has come to deliver a pluralistic, open government as the only guarantee of peace and stability. Our best defence against Russia is democracy.

When Vice President Biden visited Tbilisi last month he set several tests for the regime to realise the democratic ideals of the Rose revolution – from media freedom to the rule of law.

But just days ago, some opposition supporters were kidnapped, beaten and shot with plastic bullets in a horrific attack. They are certain it was because of their political views. It was carried out by men driving in a vehicle belonging to the police. The lack of a credible investigation raises suspicions as to whether it was carried out on the orders of the government.

This is just the most recent example of the human rights abuses by the regime, despite the promises of a “new wave of democracy” by our President. Keeping the pressure on Mr Saakashvili to reform will require support and pressure from all our allies – in the United States and Europe - just as they supported us a year ago.

Salomé Zourabichvili is a Former Foreign Minister of Georgia and leader of the pro-European opposition party “The Way of Georgia” Her party’s website is at http://thewayofgeorgia.org but those who cannot read Georgian can see Georgian opposition content at http://georgiamediacentre.com

Саломэ Зурабишвили: Саакашвили выиграл в краткосрочной перспективе

http://www.rfi.fr/acturu/articles/116/article_3887.asp

Zourabichvili : "Cette tension entre les deux pays est plus créée que réelle"

http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-monde/2009-08-07/russie-georgie-interview-zourabichvili-cette-tension-entre-les-deux-pays-est-plus-creee/924/0/367506

Le Parisien

« Saakachvili joue avec le feu »

SALOME ZOURABICHVILI, ex-ministre géorgienne des Affaires étrangères

Ancienne ambassadrice de France a Tbilissi, puis ministre des Affaires étrangères de Géorgie, Salomé Zourabichvili, qui est aujourd’hui dans l’opposition, vient de publier un
livre* où elle analyse les relations de son pays avec Moscou.

Y a-t-il de réels risques d’une nouvelle guerre entre la Russie et la Géorgie?

Salomé Zourabichvili.
Nous sommes en présence de deux Etats qui sont aussi peu démocratiques l’un que l’autre, mais qui ont tout intérêt à fairemonter lamayonnaise, pour des raisons de politique intérieure. D’un côté, Medvedev et Poutine sont toujours friands de montrer la force retrouvée de leur pays. De l’autre, Saakachvili peut rechercher dans la fuite en avant lemoyen de redorer son blason vis-à-vis des Géorgiens car, confronté depuis le 9 avril à cent jours de manifestations de l’opposition, il sait qu’il va avoir une rentrée difficile. La Russie, toutefois, n’a pas d’intérêt rationnel à redémarrer une guerre un an après avoir obtenu la sécession de l’Abkhazie et de l’Ossétie du Sud. Mais l’irrationnel n’est jamais très loin dans cette région du Caucase…
Entre Moscou et Tbilissi, le ton monte…
Nous assistons peut-être au scénario inverse de celui de l’été dernier, où des provocations
russes avaient acculé Saakachvili à la faute. Cette fois-ci, les provocations seraient plutôt
géorgiennes. En poussant la Russie à intervenir, Saakachvili — qui joue avec le feu —redeviendrait une victime et pourrait remobiliser les Géorgiens derrière lui et faire taire l’opposition.
Pourquoi la Russie accuse-t-elle les Etats-Unis de réarmer la Géorgie ?
Je crois qu’il s’agit de manoeuvres politiques car ces accusations ne semblent pas tenir la route. Le vice-président américain, Joe Biden, est certes venu récemment à Tbilissi réaffirmer le soutien américain à l’indépendance de la Géorgie, assurer que le rapprochement avecMoscou ne se ferait pas sur le dos de laGéorgie et fixer à la Russie la ligne rouge à ne pas dépasser, mais il n’est pas venu apporter des armes ni même en promettre. LesAméricains n’ontpaspris leurs distances visà- vis de laGéorgie,mais ils les ont prises à l’égard du régime. Saakachvili sait parfaitement qu’avec Obama il n’a plus le même soutien qu’avec Bush.

Propos recueillis par Bruno Fanucchi
« La Tragédie géorgienne », de Salomé
Zourabichvili, Ed. Grasset, 332 pages, 18 [1].

06.08.2009

Georgian International Media centre

http://georgiamediacentre.com/

Adress of the Georgian people

Adress of the Georgian people to the Vice President of the United States of America, Mr Joe Biden

Today is a historic day for Georgia. We are assembled again in Freedom Square, in order to once more reaffirm Georgia’s attachment to western and democratic values and to greet and welcome America’s Vice President, Mr Joe Biden.
It is more than a hundred days that we are demanding the very same changes that President Barak Obama’s new administration has set as a goal for itself and for the world. It can be said that Georgia today is the country which more than any other needs this change. It is time for change in Georgia.
On Freedom Square, We are again assembled today, political parties, nongovernemental organizations, Georgian society, pluralist and multifaceted, but united around the very same demand for which we stood here at the time of the Rose Revolution, during american President’s last visit, and before at the time when the Soviet Union was collapsing: “To be able to live in a free and democratic society”.
We are the same people, who in 2003 during the Rose Revolution, called for a governement elected through free and fair elections, for democratic state institutions, as a condition for the nation’s strengthening and for justice and freedom, as the only way leading to the development of the country.
Despite the unconditional support of the United States of America, to this day this aim has not been achieved. For the state institutions do not yet stand at the service of our citizens, because the democratic institutions – Media, Parliament, Judiciary, Private business are still usurpated by a corrupted and clanic governing team.
Over the years, instead of consolidating state institutions, the unconditional support given to a limited group of people has thrown Georgia back to the days of authoritarianism, which in itself was one of the main causes of destabilization. This authoritarian trend created a rift between the society and the governement, and left the country unguarded against foreign enemy while the emerging crisis became almost irreversible. The consolidation of personal ties at the expense of political principles raised questions as to american intent. It fostered among the governing few unchecked self confidence and assertiveness, among the consequences of which one can count the tragic 2008 august war.
Mikhail Saakashvili has failed the ideals of the Rose Revolution and has betrayed the course chosen by his own People. He has set himself on the path towards authoritarianism And with his aventuristic actions, he has lost for Georgia the prospects for real independence and short term integration in the Euroatlantic family. Instead of restoring as promised the territorial integrity of the country, he dragged Georgia into a war, which led to the loss of additional territories. Instead of the promised free economic development, the main assets of the Georgian economy have been handed over to Russia and its capital. Every day the Georgian state gets weaker and more fragile the trust in georgian institutions.

The help and support provided by the United States of America for Georgian independence and sovereignty have proven unvaluable and unprecedented .

It is only natural that Georgia expects from the new administration concrete measures in order to revive the democratic institutions: Army, that as a result of war and political repressions is on the verge of destruction; Police, which as a result of ultra politicization is terrorized and has lost its capacity to function; Judiciary, which as a result of political interferences has turned into a repressive machine in the hands of the governing team; Media, which is simply dying; Private property, which is totally undefended; free economy and business, which find themselves under the constraints of state racketeers.
Expectations are high!
Hope in Georgia remains alive!
Struggle for real democracy is going on!

We are awaiting your visit in Georgia with the greatest hope and we believe that the new posture of your administration is what we need in order to give back to our people the right to free choice and free elections and that will help to bring the country once and forever out of its dark past.
We express the hope that America will support the will of the People in order that in Georgia be restored a democratic system, be appointed early, free and fair elections, media be freed from governemental censorship, citizens be allowed to defend their elementary rights through a fair process of law, and in order for us to be able to reach our objective – free elections- not from the street, but through a normal political process.


Political parties, members of the April 9th organization,

Saakashvili clings on as talks fail

http://www.euronews.net/2009/05/12/saakashvili-clings-on-as-talks-fail/

'I Would Call Saakashvili Insane'

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,624807,00.html

A Fresh Start in Georgia

By SALOMÉ ZOURABICHVILI
Published: April 3, 2009
Like many fellow Georgians, I once had such high hopes for my country, as did our friends in the West. It began with the optimism of the Rose Revolution, grew as Georgia was named a “beacon of democracy” by the Bush administration, and solidified as Georgia came to be seen as a strategic partner for stability in its neighborhood. Sadly, this dream has ended. Democracy itself is crumbling in Georgia.

Under Mikhail Saakashvili Georgia has become an authoritarian state, buoyed by unbalanced power and millions of dollars in aid. Institutions that should be the very foundations of democracy have been undermined. Our Parliament, with a two-thirds majority for Saakashvili’s party, is unable to provide checks and balances. Elections are fraudulent and discredited, as illustrated in reports by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on ballot-box stuffing and intimidation during the last presidential elections.
With the seizure of news outlets and the censorship of journalists, there is no longer a free media. The penal system is rife with abuse, not just with political interference in the judiciary, but also with torture in our prisons, as documented by the U.S. State Department. Georgia is now a country where everything — from business to sports to culture — falls under government control.
The Bush administration must bear some responsibility for giving priority to stability and turning a blind eye to the Saakashvili government’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
We hope the Obama administration will take a stand that reflects America’s principles in aiding the development of truly democratic institutions in Georgia rather than simply supporting individual leaders. We hope much-needed financial aid will be conditioned on adherence to principles of democracy, civil society and human rights.
Since the Rose Revolution there have been reversals in three key democratic pillars — increasing restrictions on media freedom, political interference in the judiciary and the erosion of private property rights. All of these should be reason enough for the United States and the European Union to push Georgia — a country of major strategic importance given its bearing on relations with Russia — back on the path toward democracy.
An ideal starting point involves the case of the TV channel Imedi, Georgia’s only independent national television station until it was seized and ransacked by security forces and then expropriated from its legal owners to silence criticism of the government.
The seizure is symbolic of government attacks on private property. A recent court judgment upholding Imedi’s confiscation, despite clear evidence of fraud and forgery, is widely seen as illustrating the total lack of independence of the judicial system. The intimidation of Imedi’s journalists is evidence of the violation of human rights. Imedi has become the symbol of a free press that has ceased to exist.
This is not an isolated case: On March 12, one of Georgia’s most prominent journalists, Inga Grigolia, resigned her position at Georgia’s public broadcaster when the station refused to air an interview with a former government minister who is in exile for fear of his life. The editor of the Georgian Times, a popular weekly newspaper, last week suspended publication after his son was threatened by police officers at gunpoint. Imedi itself, which the government claims is independent, has been taken over by a Ministry of Defense official.
In Georgian, the word Imedi means “hope,” and that hope has been shattered. But by taking action on this one issue, the United States and its allies can demonstrate their commitment to democracy in Georgia. Demanding that the Georgian leadership returns Imedi to its rightful owners, thus restoring its independence and permitting a voice of balanced journalism to again be heard, would be a clear signal that U.S. policy in Georgia will insist on development of the basic democratic institutions we so fervently seek. Furthermore, restoration of media freedom will give Georgia a crucial instrument it needs to rebuild its civil society.
I have called for new elections in Georgia that would be free and fair so that the people can begin to rebuild a truly democratic society. What we need, however, is uncompromising international commitment to the basic institutions of democracy, not simply foreign support for individual leaders. Democracy must have a fresh start in Georgia — and a fresh stance from our genuine friends abroad.
Salomé Zourabichvili is a former foreign minister of Georgia.

La Tragedie georgienne

http://www.evene.fr/livres/livre/salome-zourabichvili-la-tragedie-georgienne-40314.php

Les cicatrices des Nations

http://www.evene.fr/livres/livre/salome-zourabichvili-les-cicatrices-des-nations-30993.php

Une Femme Pour Deux Pays

http://www.decitre.fr/livres/Une-femme-pour-deux-pays.aspx/9782246695615

l'express

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/l-impasse-georgienne_776093.html

FRANCE 24

http://www.france24.com/fr/20090715-lentretien-salome-zourabichvili

The messenger

messenger
The opposition will greet Biden with “welcome rally”
By Temuri Kiguradze
Tuesday, July 21

Salome Zourabichvili, leader of The Way of Georgia and one of the leaders of the opposition coalition the 9 April Movement, has announced that after the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden to Tbilisi on July 22 the non-Parliamentary opposition will suspend the protest rallies which have been conducted in the Georgian capital for over three months. However before that the opposition plans to “greet” Vice President Biden with a massive rally on Freedom Square on the evening of July 22.

Zourabichvili, who served as Foreign Affairs Minister before joining the opposition, kindly agreed to talk to The Messenger about the details of the upcoming events on July 20.

“The April 9 Movement plans to meet and greet Vice President Biden and therefore we are calling on people to come to a large rally in Freedom Square. Many pro-Government media outlets are trying to portray this rally as a protest which it is not; we have nothing to protest against when it comes to America and its Vice President,” stated Zourabichvili. She said the main purpose of the rally will be to express the gratitude of the Georgian people for “the constant support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity by the US” and their hope for “even stronger support from America’s new administration for the building of democracy in Georgia.”

The opposition politician noted that “despite the possible allegations of the [Georgian] Government” the people coming to Freedom Square Rally will not just be those hurt by the reforms of the current authorities. “They will be those who were standing in front of Parliament at the Rose Revolution and the same people who were standing there during the visit of [US President] George W. Bush to Georgia.”

“We were very attentively listening to the statements of the new American administration and President Obama, especially during his visit to Moscow. We appreciate his [Obama’s] reiteration of America’s support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as that is very important in this difficult period for Georgia. But from his speeches we can also hear his statements about the will of people and the Government needing to be based on it and his support for free elections, and that is what we want. We want Georgia to change, we want to convey to Vice President Biden that the Georgian people feel a little bit disappointed that after a while the previous American administration give less support for [Georgian] democratic institutions and more for a particular group of people [in Georgian government]. We hope that the new administration will return to supporting those institutions rather than supporting the regime.” Salome Zourabichvili added that White House officials may have been led to believe that “only one” group of people, those currently holding the top positions in the Government, represent pro-reform and Western-oriented movements in Georgia, and she considers that Obama’s administration has “already recognised” that taking this kind of attitude was one of the “errors of the previous [Bush] policy.” “We and the people gathering on Freedom Square will show that there are more reform-oriented groups in society than the Government and underline the fact that the authorities are reform-oriented and pro-democratic only in words, their deeds being completely different.”

Salome Zourabichvili confirmed that the mass protest rallies on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi will finish just after Biden’s visit to Georgia. The opposition parties plan to remove the improvised cells, which they say were used to show that Georgia has become a police state, from the streets of the city. “After one hundred days of the peaceful protests we think that this stage should end. From September we will implement a new strategy for achieving free elections, which I think is the only way to overcome the crisis and restart the political and economic machine in Georgia,” stated Salome Zourabichvili. She considers that the rallies have already played their role in the political process. “The peaceful protests have shown that society exists in Georgia and it wants just what it wanted during the protest action in 2003 [Rose Revolution], democracy, a free judiciary, a strong Parliament – nothing has changed.” According to Zourabichvili the protest rallies that began on April 9 showed the fragility of the Georgian state and that’s why the opposition parties chose the method of peaceful demonstrations which are “the only means of achieving our goals.”

The fact that the street rallies are cooling down doesn’t mean that the opposition has given up its struggle, Zourabichvili said. “There is no betrayal” of the people sitting in the cells on Rustaveli Avenue she said. “Now we stand for the same objectives we did before. We demand free elections, and these can only happen after the dismissal of Saakashvili. We are simply changing the means of the struggle; nobody said that we would keep the cells on Rustaveli Avenue forever. Now those cells, in the middle of summer, can be in a way negative PR for the protest actions and we need to think of some new ways of protest and combine these with intensive action with our foreign partners, because a lot depends on them. Achieving all of this requires a new complex strategy that cannot be limited to the cells on Rustaveli Avenue. But of course those people [the participants of the current protest actions] should be considered and they should play their parts in the future strategy,” she said. Speaking about this “new strategy,” Salome Zourabichvili noted that now it is in the process of being worked out, but the “welcome” rally for Vice President Biden is part of that strategy and the protest rallies will be renewed in September. “It’s not because we like it, but in the existing situation this is the only way for the opposition to express its ideas,” she said.

The opposition doesn’t reject the idea of holding dialogue with the Government, Zourabichvili said, but she explained that this dialogue should be “real and serious” and not just “talks for the sake of PR, as have been preferred by the Georgian authorities.” She also commented on the proposition of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that he is ready to give Government positions to members of the non-Parliamentary opposition. When this statement was made Zourabichvili had announced that she was ready to accept the position of Deputy Interior Minister to gain the opposition “access to real power in the country,” however her offer was not accepted and she even didn’t receive an official refusal or explanation of this decision from the Government. She noted that this may confirm that Georgia is not now governed by Saakashvili alone but by “clans that have taken power around him.” She also expressed her hope that Vice President Biden may make Saakashvili change his mind and turn his refusal into an acceptance. “That would be a very interesting step towards building trust between sides which today don’t talk to each other [the Government and the non-Parliamentary opposition].

Continuing the topic of dialogue with the authorities, Zourabichvili said that a compromise proposal from the Government may be accepted if it leads to the serious improvement of democratic processes in the country. “We are not the radical opposition we are often portrayed as by the Government’s media, if this has been so we would have followed the same revolutionary path Saakashvili once did. We support the political processes of the country, but we have to see that these processes can be allowed to work with these authorities in charge, as they haven’t seen that in the two elections of 2008 – Presidential and Parliamentary, we were not totally duped,” she stated, adding that the latest changes in legislation and policy show that the Government is moving in the direction of taking “even more repressive” actions. However Zourabichvili conceded that the resignation of Saakashvili may not be the key to making the democratic processes work if he agreed to allow the opposition parties to participate in government. “Anything can be accepted if it has the trust of the population, if the people can see and trust that the President’s powers are effectively reduced so that Parliamentary elections can take place in a free environment, one not controlled by [Interior Minister] Merabishvili’s police and by the media totally in the hands [of the Government]. This situation can be accepted as a compromise by the population,” stated Zourabichvili, noting that this kind of the compromise will nevertheless require the reestablishment of trust between the population and the authorities which could be achieved only with the assistance of Western partners, including the USA, who may become “guarantors” of that trust.

Summing up three months of protests in Georgia, Zourabichvili noted that the rallies had served as a sort of “electoral campaign” at which the oppositional parties got the chance to present themselves directly to the population. Salome Zourabichvili noted that her party was successful in that campaign. “If we look back on what we have gained or lost; we can say that we didn’t deliver what we promised the population, the free elections that would help us overcome this crisis. However, from the very first days of the protest actions we stated that we had a long way to go and would be a battle of nerves needing patience and self-confidence. In fact in this battle of nerves, the authorities lost their nerve more often than the opposition. It has become clear inside and outside the country through the rallies that without using their usual instruments – propaganda and repression - the authorities aren’t able to effectively govern anymore, they are not able to protect the borders and the country’s interests.

“Despite the fact that these protests have not removed Saakashvili and forced new elections, they have been able to show that the emperor is naked, even if he has a new and very expensive palace,” concluded Salome Zourabichvili, referring to the new Presidential residence opened recently in Tbilisi.