Week 02/25 – 03/02, Georgia: (r)Evolution

In Georgia, where starting from 1999 two on three of both Presidential and Parliamentary elections had to be extraordinary, because of massive street protests and clashes, the harsh political confrontation at present goes on in the proper place, i.e. the Parliament. Important issues, like the change of the electoral system, the re-distribution of powers, the management of public tv, relevant constitutional amendments, are discussed, although not always profitably, during regular sessions.
Reforms, right now, overcastted revolutionary appeals, and there’s a balance between the needs of radical changes and the stability necessary to pursue such changes. Is it the stillness before the storm? Parliamentary elections, scheduled for May, will provide the answer. The opposition is drawing the strategy to maximize the votes, running as an eight-parties bloc, after the defection of the Republican party, which will run alone.

If internal politics legally, but with difficulty, moves a step after another, on the borders the tension is rising much faster, after the accident that involved Malkhaz Basilaia, a Georgian journalist, at present held in custody in Sokhumi, and the following escalation of mutual accuses and, then, of shots. Media reported that a military mobilization is taking place in Abkhazia.