Systematic failures and a vicious circle, “the system rules Georgia and not the people”
A segment from Lia Makhashavria’s interview is presented below:
“Under the Mkhedrioni, Jaba Ioseliani was an autocratic leader ruling all of Georgia despite the fact that our constitution did not entitle him to do this. He had a mandate, however.
Everyone who doubted that Mr. Ivanishvili is sitting in his glass palace and governs the government along with its prosecutors and investigators now knows this for certain.”
All doubts have been dispersed and today everyone can easily conclude that an ordinary inpidual cannot enjoy the status of an authoritarian ruler.
Everyone has always known that court system in this country is not an independent or unbiased body; neither are the investigators, and the European Court has also emphasized this in its report.
It does not make any difference, whether Georgia is in a state of chaos under Gharibashvili or Saakashvili; the system has not been altered and this is what actually matters, which is really dangerous today. Everyone should bear in mind that in a country where such things are commonplace, all talks about democracy or justice seem immensely ridiculous, since such countries are authoritarian to the core.”
Gia Khukhashvili’s opinion regarding this issue is also worth taking into account. As you know, Mr. Khukhashvili was Bidzina Ivanishvili’s counselor, and he knows the ins and outs of the existing system perfectly well. So, why not remember his stories about the new government’s eagerness to cooperate with our businessmen?
“Dismantling a regime is important; however, defeating a system must be a prime objective and one of the most pressing challenges of any government. I think that the system has, to a certain extent, taken the authorities hostage. As a result, today the country is ruled by the system and not by the people. Justice cannot be restored when the system itself is flawed. Radical decisions are a must today; I hope it is not too late to make them,”- stated Gia Khukhashvili on Imedi TV on January 23.
In his words, today the government faces a great deal of pressing challenges. “Consequently, I think that in the coming months, they must seriously discuss whether this government deserves our people’s vote of confidence. In my mind, this is not a one-time incident; much more is still to come,”- stated Khukhashvili.
But the Dream Government has also taken advantage of the situation. “Our friends, together with whom we have defeated this regime” very easily adapted themselves to Saakashvili’s, Merabishvili’s and Adeishvili’s system. Each step they took demonstrated that they aimed to seize power in order to cater to their own ambitions and enjoy lives of luxury. The existing system has only helped them do this.
Now I have some words for Irakli Alasania:
"Systemic changes are what really matter today; we must now introduce the correct system, and only staff it with competent and highly-qualified people. This system must obviously be open. By bidding farewell to Chikaidze, we are not changing anything. He can easily be replaced by someone else whose authority will be slightly limited.
I frequent regions and I can say for certain that our regions lack real self-governance systems and this is their key problem today. Their mayors and governors can’t make their own decisions. This is shameful and, obviously, this is not the system for which we fought together back in 2012,”- stated Irakli Alasania on January 23 with the Public Broadcaster.
The Security Agency has governed everything, from local self-government bodies to the Parliament. They managed to assume full control of each and every field because of the Dream Government’s reluctance to fulfill its duties. This is not only shameful, this is a crime. Let’s remember how they defended Chief Prosecutor Partskaladze while knowing that he illegally freed Merabishvili and faced felony charges in Germany. Let’s remember shameful case of the so-called “tractors” as well as the case of the so-called “Remena” to which, by all rights, our high officials should have immediately responded.
Let’s now compare Kukhashvili’s aforementioned words to a statement which he released on January 6, 2014.
“After Ivanishvili disengaged from politics, we were faced with a rather strange reality – today we have a government which rules the country through a mandate given to one single man.
Thus, the situation in which we are today is dangerous but not hopeless. We must regard the present status quo as an objective reality and must adjust everything to our constitution. We are obliged to do this especially in the present state of affairs, when Ivanishvili himself longs to establish constitutional order in the country.”
When I commented on Kukashvili’s words presented above, I stressed that the Georgian Dream Party would have definitely refused to adjust everything to the constitution. I knew they would not do so any time soon or in the future because of one simple reason: power corrupts a man and drives him to insanity, while absolute power makes him completely mad. In such cases, the powers that be are obviously reluctant to limit themselves.
“Our executive government’s readiness to comprehend the responsibilities with which they are burdened and break the bonds of a shady and imbalanced system is what actually matters today. They must contemplate this issue and understand that enjoying high posts is not their right but their responsibility and these posts do not allow them to govern and command; on the contrary, these posts oblige them to serve their people. Only through such an approach can they enjoy the status of a legitimate government,”- Khukhashvili says in the same letter.
Woe to us, but I cannot help labeling these words as nonsensical, since the political elite will never understand their role and will never accept responsibilities if the people don’t force them to do this. Otherwise, the powers that be will not only refuse to be captives of some shady and more or less balanced system, but they will also cover the entire country in a black veil, and soon only the most valiant of us will dare to raise really vulnerable issues (these words are quoted from a letter which I posted in my blog a year ago).
Likewise, only civil society, including media outlets free from the government’s control, can hammer into the authorities’ heads that being in the government is not their right but their responsibility.
Even civil society can achieve this goal by fighting. If we wait and refuse to fight with ferocity and force, the government will never comprehend this irrefutable truth. On the contrary, they will reassure themselves that their posts give them immunity from punishment and they can get away with anything. The only reward they will reap with such an approach will be hatred from their own people. And as you know, our history has many such examples,” (end quote).
I want to remind readers of my words which I have reiterated at every opportunity: “Any attempt to rule a country like a joint stock company will end in failure.” Here I also want to expand on Lia Mukhashavria’s words, according to which today’s Georgia with its systematic flaws is not a far cry from Georgia of the Mkhedrioni.
Allegation that there is no principal difference between Saakashvili’s Georgia and Georgia of self-seeker pseudo-Prime-Minister Gharibashvili does also ring true.
However, to follow through with this systematic analysis, we must emphasize that Bidzina Ivanishvili is Jaba Ioseliani’s opposite. If the latter planned terrorist acts, the former is a great philanthropist, who wishes only good for his country and people.
In spring of 2012, he sadly pointed out that he had failed to break a vicious circle a captive of which he had been for 20 long years; unfortunately, this reckless system is what thwarted him in translating his kind intentions into actions.
It’s immensely saddening that the Georgian people are still walking in this vicious circle, which is gradually narrowing.
