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May 25, 2006
Civilized relationship, honest competition and constructive dialogue on common national issues among political parties with different world views is a significant pre-requisite for the formation of a strong nation based on the rule of law and civil society.
Given that the ruling party is trying its best to impose full control over the state institutions and fragment the society, close relations among Georgia´s opposition parties is gaining even greater significance.
Under the current situation it is practically useless for us to hold debates and discussions on our different worldviews (which is one of the primary functions for the political parties in a democratic system) and talk about our parties´ successes. The infantilism and the authoritarian aspirations of the members of the ruling party seriously jeopardize the security and stability of our nation, which can be avoided only through our united efforts.
It is very important that we maintain our mutual respect and dialogue further and establish this kind of relations with other political parties. However, this kind of relations takes a firm pre-condition - loyalty to the strategic, national interests of Georgia. We cannot consider the revanchist parties and groups that are operating through the protection and funds they receive from the Russian governmental circles, as loyal to this kind of interests; the parties that are led by Igor Giorgadze´s [former Georgian state security minister in exile in Russia] "Justice" party. The past and present of the leaders of these groups make it hard for us to believe that they form their political course through their own principles and ideals and not by the orders from various Russian special services.
Besides, on the one hand, the ruling party is trying to win the electorate by creating an image of enemy from Igor Giorgadze and on the other hand, discredit us as opposition parties by spreading rumors about our "co-operation" with him. It is very realistic that Saakashvili and Giorgiadze will, through a co-ordinated strategy, try to create opposing poles thus neutralizing the main opposition forces just as Shevardnadze and Abashidze managed to do this in the past.
With the above-said in mind, we state that the undersigned political parties fully and permanently disassociate themselves from Igor Giorgadze and his party, rule out any co-operation with him and inform the society immediately of every for of alliance between Saakashvili and Igor Giorgadze´s party.
David GAMKRELIDZE
New Rights (Conservative) Party
Konstantine GAMSAKHURDIA
Freedom Movement
David USUPASHVILI
Republican Party
Koba DAVITASHVILI
Conservative Party |
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STATEMENT by Georgia's opposition political parties about Igor Giorgadze´ party "Justice"
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May 25, 2006
Civilized relationship, honest competition and constructive dialogue on common national issues among political parties with different world views is a significant pre-requisite for the formation of a strong nation based on the rule of law and civil society.
Given that the ruling party is trying its best to impose full control over the state institutions and fragment the society, close relations among Georgia´s opposition parties is gaining even greater significance.
Under the current situation it is practically useless for us to hold debates and discussions on our different worldviews (which is one of the primary functions for the political parties in a democratic system) and talk about our parties´ successes. The infantilism and the authoritarian aspirations of the members of the ruling party seriously jeopardize the security and stability of our nation, which can be avoided only through our united efforts.
It is very important that we maintain our mutual respect and dialogue further and establish this kind of relations with other political parties. However, this kind of relations takes a firm pre-condition - loyalty to the strategic, national interests of Georgia. We cannot consider the revanchist parties and groups that are operating through the protection and funds they receive from the Russian governmental circles, as loyal to this kind of interests; the parties that are led by Igor Giorgadze´s [former Georgian state security minister in exile in Russia] "Justice" party. The past and present of the leaders of these groups make it hard for us to believe that they form their political course through their own principles and ideals and not by the orders from various Russian special services.
Besides, on the one hand, the ruling party is trying to win the electorate by creating an image of enemy from Igor Giorgadze and on the other hand, discredit us as opposition parties by spreading rumors about our "co-operation" with him. It is very realistic that Saakashvili and Giorgiadze will, through a co-ordinated strategy, try to create opposing poles thus neutralizing the main opposition forces just as Shevardnadze and Abashidze managed to do this in the past.
With the above-said in mind, we state that the undersigned political parties fully and permanently disassociate themselves from Igor Giorgadze and his party, rule out any co-operation with him and inform the society immediately of every for of alliance between Saakashvili and Igor Giorgadze´s party.
David GAMKRELIDZE
New Rights (Conservative) Party
Konstantine GAMSAKHURDIA
Freedom Movement
David USUPASHVILI
Republican Party
Koba DAVITASHVILI
Conservative Party |
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Opposition Parties´ and NGOs´ Joint Statement on Report by Public Defender (Ombudsman)
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STATEMENT
As regards the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the individual, there is a critical situation in the country; This gravity of the situation has been corroborated by the latest report by the public defender which describes in detail and impartiality multiple cases of gross violations of human rights; We would like to especially highlight violations of such rights as the right to life and private property.
Our particular concern has been triggered by the fact that in many occasions the crimes were committed by the senior officials of the Interior Ministry and the members of the police. What is even more alarming is the fact that practically all of these kinds of cases are either falsified or not investigated at all; Killing of Sandro Girgvliani on the ground of personal retaliation, killing of Amiran Robakidze, the bloody, so-called special operation of 2 June, massive beatings, tortures and insults of detainees and the massacre of inmates that took place in Prison N. 5 on 27 March, the beating of the former MP Valery Gelashvili almost to death as well as the beating of Revaz Tsalani on the ground of personal retaliation, brutal treatment of Georgian citizens of Ossetian origin in Gori etc. This is an incomplete number of the criminal acts that are carried out by the authorities, namely by direct participation of the Interior Ministry; None of the above-mentioned cases have yet been investigated and those responsible remain still unpunished; Unfortunately, the Ministry of Interior which lives off the taxes from the Georgian citizens in order to ensure the public security, has itself become a source of danger which threatened the most fundamental of the human values - life.
The rights of private property and free enterprise are being grossly violated as well. This has been confirmed by the scandalous affair related to the prominent Austrian company Schirnhofer; The company´s products were detained at the customs check point for months after which this significant investor refused to carry out any further investments in the country; Not even one legal case in which the authorities confronted the private entrepreneurs has ever been won by the latter. At the same time, the authorities neglect the responsibilities imposed on them by the judiciary and do not consider them in the executive funds; The fiscal police has took on a duty of "state racket" and has turned into an instrument for intimidating the businessmen. The situation is further compounded by the fact that there is virtually no institution to which a person could appeal to defend and restore his or her rights; The judiciary branch has been usurped by the prosecutor´s office; Prosecutor practically acts as an accuser and arbiter simultaneously. Actually, he is the one signing the verdict and not the judge; This drastic situation in the judiciary field can be confirmed by the utterly negative assessments made by the American Bar Association (ABA) in which facts highlighter are: the low level of the independence of judges, pressure on judges on the part of the authorities, active use of the disciplinal persecution mechanism against the judges with the purpose to control them and so on.
With all the above-said in mind, we consider that very dangerous tendencies are prevalent in the country: violence has been practically raised up to the rank of state policy; instead of the rule of law, the selective justice is on the rise; there is a dangerous process of delegitimazing the authorities going on. Besides various subjective reasons, the institutional base for this process is that an immense and unbalanced power is being accumulated around one person - the President. The so-called power structures (the prosecutor’s office, the interior ministry and the fiscal police) are virtually the means of fulfilling the President’s will and, in frequent cases, simply his personal whims. Neither the judiciary nor the legislative branches are so far able to contain this perilous trend. Instead of creating institutional guarantees of freedom, the authorities are conducting full imitation and simulation of democratic reforms. The current situation has every signs of authoritarian-style of government and is the major cause for the frequent and brazen violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the individual in the country. The person responsible for this is President Saakashvili.
Based on the facts and their assessments by the public defender, we deem the following necessary:
1. The minister of interior, Vano Merabishvili, resign from his position and those police officers and senior officials implicated in the alleged crimes be brought to justice immediately; after this, the reform of the Interior Ministry should be carried out and the ministry should be divided into several parts; The municipal police should be established within the framework of the local self-governance, which will be responsible for defense of the public order; the security agency should be separated from the ministry so that the special services are not concentrated within one agency.
2. Due to the allegations of torture, beatings and assaults against the inmates as well as violating the detainees’ right to due process, the chairman of the penitentiary department, Bacho Akhalaia, and those named by the public defender should be sacked from their posts;
3. Due to the fact that the authorities practically do not recognize the universal principle of ‘checks and balances’ and instead of the rule of law are intentionally trying to establish an informal or essentially a clan-based relations system, it should be up to the opposition parties to assume the responsibility and through the active support of the public should work out a draft of the constitutional reform. We should establish the kind of political system, which will be built upon the mechanisms of power division and the balance among the different branches of the government; the system where the Presidential power will be limited while that of the parliament will be strengthened and the additional guarantees of the independence of the judiciary will be provided. It is exactly the balance-based political system and the protection of the principle of the rule of law that breed democracy and represents the institutional guarantees for the protection of the fundamental human rights and freedoms. |
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"Egality Institute" holds protest, demands punishment for Girgvliani, Robakidze killers
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On 7 June 2006, the members of the Egality Institute held yet another demonstration demanding punishment for those responsible for the killings of Sandro Girgvliani [bank official] and Amiran Robakidze [student].
In both cases senior police officials were implicated.
The family members of the deceased, various NGO representatives as well as the members of the New Rights Party (NCP) attended the protest.
However, the police yet again placed the administrative code above the right to life and violently dispersed the peaceful demonstrators.
Five demonstrators were detained and brutally beaten. Among the beaten was the NCP youth leader, Levan Gogichaishvili.
At the legal process which lasted throughout the night, the detained were charged with disturbing the public order and fined with 7.5 GEL (=4 USD). |
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Pikria Chikhradze MP calls President Saakashvili "undemocratic leader"
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Pikria Chikradze MP has called President Saakashvili an "undemocratic leader" due to the fact that he has refused to name a specific date for the local elections.
Chikradze said that Saakashvili, through the significant pressure from the international community, has named only the general period during which the elections would be held.
Chikradze believes that it will take exactly the pressure of the international community to make President Saakashvili name a specific date for the elections.
She also added that the parliamentary majority had adopted the kind of electoral code that the opposition, unless it unifies, had no chance of winning.
"It has turned insufficient for the authorities that they have created a one party staffed central electoral commission, that they have created undemocratic electoral legislation and today, they are creating additional guarantees for themselves. They are purposefully not naming the date for elections so the opposition should have no time to get prepared," Chikradze said.
The member of the NCP said "besides the fact that the country has a one-party-based electoral commission, the authorities will mobilize huge amount of money for the forthcoming local elections."
"If Gigi Ugulava [mayor of Tbilisi] talks about the "second coming" in the context of naming the date for elections, then they should expect total destruction on the part of the opposition," Chikradze said. |
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David Gamkrelidze: Local self-governance elections will be a test of Democracy
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Opposition party leaders of Georgia met with the representatives of the European Commission and the ambassadors of France and Germany in the Sheraton Metekhi Palace on 9 June 2006. The meeting was related to the forthcoming local self-governmental elections.
As the leader of the New Conservative Party David Gamkrelidze said after the meeting, the representatives of the European Commission as well as the ambassadors had expressed their position that the upcoming local elections would be a test of democracy for the current authorities.
"We do not intent to play the role of an observer in this test," Gamkrelidze said adding that the opposition presented detailed information as to what changes need to be made to the acting legislation.
Gamkrelidze also noted that the meeting agreed to hold an open meeting of the opposition parties with all the ambassadors of the member-states of the EU to discuss the loopholes existing in the electoral law.
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