Kviris Palitra, Georgia
June 25 2012
Saakashvili Has Only Made His Entourage’s Dreams Come True
Interview with Georgian political analyst Kakha Kakhishvili by Izo Rikadze
[Translated from Georgian]
Last week the authorities conducted another punitive operation against
their main opponent. The warehouses of Global TV [Georgian satellite
TV service provider affiliated with billionaire businessman and de
facto leader of the Georgian Dream opposition alliance Bidzina
Ivanishvili] across the country were temporarily seized. Acting on
information from the Comptroller’s Office, the Prosecutor’s Office
launched an investigation into voter bribery. The Ministry of Internal
Affairs supported the Prosecutor’s Office action with a statement from
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Eka Zghuladze. Just as [President
Mikheil] Saakashvili did years ago [when he spoke of zero tolerance of
crime], Eka Zghuladze spoke of zero tolerance, but this was zero
tolerance of election fraud and voter bribery. The deputy minister
also said that the seizure of Global TV’s satellite dishes was not
linked to restriction of access to the media. Apparently, the police
who entered (I do not want to use the words “broke into”) Global TV’s
warehouses were staunchly defending the must-carry/must-offer
principles [by which cable TV service providers must carry free-to-air
TV channels while the latter must offer their broadcasts to all
providers]. It was [Parliament Speaker] Davit Bakradze’s initiative
that put an end to this strange story. He spoke of reopening a closed
media environment and reassured the nervous public with the promise
that every cable channel will be obliged to carry every TV channel
[sentence as published].
Meanwhile, the deadline has passed for Bidzina Ivanishvili to pay the
[72-million-lari (45m dollars)] fine imposed on him by the courts [for
breaking party funding rules]. The Georgian Dream leader is refusing
to pay, while it appears that the authorities badly need Ivanishvili’s
millions ahead of the [October parliamentary] elections, which is why
they are planning sanctions against their main opponent.
Kviris Palitra has discussed this and other important subjects with
political analyst Kakha Kakhishvili, the director of the Research
Centre for Electoral and Political Technologies [Georgian NGO].
[Kakhishvili] We can see that the Alfacom company, which has won the
tender to install free wi-fi internet facilities all over Tbilisi, is
not making a profit and is purely loss-making. This company is to pay
the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office 25,000 lari every month for it to be
allowed to install transmission facilities across Tbilisi. Likewise,
it will cost it a lot of money to install equipment that will ensure
the provision of wi-fi internet services. What does this company gain?
Nothing. It means that it took part in the tender in order to help the
[ruling United] National Movement win over the hearts of voters with
free internet. The Comptroller’s Office has “failed to notice” that
Alfacom has agreed to be loss-making in order to win over the hearts
of voters and effectively bribe them, but the Comptroller’s Office
immediately noticed that Global TV was installing dishes for people at
a discounted price and instantly deemed that to be bribery.
If the Global TV company had been founded and had started to install
free dishes after Bidzina Ivanishvili entered politics [in October
2011], this may well have raised doubts, but that is not what
happened. The company existed before Bidzina Ivanishvili entered
politics, but I must note that it was a mistake for people installing
Global TV dishes to wear Georgian Dream sweatshirts.
The legal framework the Comptroller’s Office is using is repressive. A
decision based on this framework may not be just. The law should apply
equally to all entities. Selective justice is unacceptable. It is an
injustice that the Comptroller’s Office fails to notice National
Movement members’ meetings at restaurants, that Alfacom has chosen
precisely 2012 [an election year] to embark on a loss-making project,
that the Comptroller’s Office is taking no interest in why one of the
founders of the Wissol Group [which operates gas stations across
Georgia] is focused on Samtredia [town in western Georgia] and funds
free medical treatment only there, and that the Comptroller’s Office
is focused solely on examining opposition activities and using harsh
sanctions.
The authorities have created a legal framework that makes it
impossible to get a license for signal transmission unless you are a
supporter of the authorities. The authorities also monitor and do not
give development opportunities to those who have a [broadcast] license
(Kavkasia and Maestro [TV channels]) and tightly control the so-called
national channels. The launch of Channel 9 [majority-owned by
Ivanishvili’s wife] was a shock to the authorities. They are well
aware of the power of television and how it can change voter
attitudes. Since 2003 the authorities have been preventing the
opposition from using any of the methods they used themselves to come
to power. For years it has been a game of one-way traffic. The whole
of Georgia has been in goal trying to stop National Movement penalty
kicks. Now that a person of great financial means who can take a
penalty kick himself has appeared, the authorities are trying to seize
the goal so that Ivanishvili is unable to score the penalty.
[Rikadze] Apart from restricting Bidzina Ivanishvili’s ability to
spend his money, they have imposed major monetary sanctions on him,
which he is not planning to pay. What may this process lead to?
[Kakhishvili] Whereas in the past the authorities resorted to business
closures, big fines imposed by the tax service, and the planting of
arms and narcotics, now the authorities have expanded their pressure
methods and introduced major financial sanctions. Instead of sending
the opposition to prison, the authorities have opted for the
imposition of monetary sanctions, which allow them to make money
through big fines. By fining Ivanishvili, the authorities want to use
his money to conduct their own election campaign.
They will have many other plans to terrorize Ivanishvili
psychologically. The authorities will also try to spring surprises on
him with the help of his entourage. It is possible that Ivanishvili is
not paying the fine in order to force the authorities to ask other
countries where he has property to seize it.
This would allow him to take legal action against the authorities in
the country which they ask to seize his property and, thus, to expose
the authorities’ inept steps internationally. However, the authorities
can see through that and will try to get on Ivanishvili’s nerves in
Georgia.
The authorities will not be focused solely on collecting the fine from
Ivanishvili, but will also think about how to humiliate him. The
repressions will increase as the elections draw near. I would not rule
out bailiffs arriving at Ivanishvili’s glass palace [reference to his
residence in Tbilisi] and starting to audit his property.
[Rikadze] Last week we witnessed a strange metamorphosis on the part
of the authorities. First, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Eka
Zghuladze said that the seizure of Global TV’s satellite dishes had
nothing to do with access to the media and that the policy of zero
tolerance of voter bribery would continue. However, later, the
Parliament speaker came up with the initiative that cable broadcasters
[cable TV providers] should carry all channels.
[Kakhishvili] Before becoming deputy minister of internal affairs, Ms
Zghuladze worked in the NGO sector and spoke enthusiastically about
the protection of human rights. However, these people have changed a
great deal since 2003 [when they came to power]. When Zghuladze says
that the seizure of the dishes is not linked to the restriction of
access to the media, it seems that she does not know that, unless
connected to a dish, a television would not show anything. How can the
seizure of dishes not be linked to the restriction of TV signal
reception?
I have one explanation for the parliament speaker’s initiative: The
authorities realized that the seizure of dishes at Global TV
warehouses would certainly make it into the election evaluation report
and would be seen as pressure on the free media, which is why they
tried to rectify the situation with this initiative. Bakradze’s
initiative is not about protecting free speech, but is aimed solely at
salvaging the situation following the erroneous step taken against
Global TV, so that foreigners are not outraged (?!) [punctuation as
published].
We have a country in which the ministries of justice and internal
affairs are competing with each other in a race to build more glass
buildings. It is a paradox that a country in which there is no justice
for the public has so many Public Service Halls. When I look at so
many glass buildings, the [popular Soviet-era] fairy tale Dunno in the
Emerald City comes to mind. A city built in emerald is a mirage. I
fear that this fairy tale will not become reality for us. We will have
cities in which everything is pretty and made of glass, but in reality
this will only be a mirage.
[Rikadze] Following the Georgian Dream’s meeting with members of the
Armenian community last week, eavesdropping equipment fitted in a
flower pot was found in the room. What do you think about that?
[Kakhishvili] Under the Georgian Code of Criminal Procedure,
eavesdropping is only allowed if a criminal case has been instituted,
and such a decision needs to be made by a court. It is unlikely that
the officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who fitted the
eavesdropping equipment in the conference room had the authorization
to eavesdrop, which means that they have committed a criminal offence.
I would not rule out the possibility that the person who found the
equipment was seeking to establish himself in Ivanishvili’s team. Nor
do I think that this would have been done without the involvement of
the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It appears that the falling prices
of eavesdropping equipment in China have led to mass bugging here. It
is likely that there is such equipment in almost every bar,
restaurant, and conference room. In places where there is not, they
will fit it too.
[Rikadze] Even though we criticize Saakashvili’s style of government,
it is precisely the reforms implemented by him that they like in
Moldova, and they are inviting him to Chisinau.
[Kakhishvili] Saakashvili alone will not be able to implement reforms
in Moldova. That is why it would be better if they also take the team
that has been helping him to implement reforms.
There is a great deal to do in Moldova as well, especially as they
have failed for years to resolve the Dniester region issue. If they
take Saakashvili, the Dniester region will be an independent republic
within two years.
During Sakashvili’s rule Georgia has started to resemble a four-star
hotel that only appeals to tourists. Foreigners who stay here for two
weeks like local service. They like it that the ban, for example, on
tinted glass [in cars] does not apply to them and that they are not
fined for driving a car while drunk and without seatbelts. Georgian
citizens are fined for everything, while foreigners are not fined for
anything. This way they are creating the impression that Georgia is an
oasis compared with other countries. This creates the false impression
that Saakashvili has managed to build a European country in Georgia.
However, this illusion will disappear for people who have been
attracted to this mirage and moved their business to Georgia. All of
them are now cursing their fate. Georgia has become akin to an
advertisement in which everything appears to be fine only from the
outside.
[Rikadze] Mikheil Saakashvili has said that making dreams come true is
his profession.
[Kakhishvili] Since 2003, Georgia has been living off Saakashvili’s
fairy tales, which only foreigners believe. We have a country in which
one order by the president is sufficient to turn a billionaire into a
beggar and a beggar into a wealthy man. Saakashvili has indeed made
many people’s dreams come true. Many people who before 2003 could not
imagine that they were good enough even to sell sunflower seeds on the
street have now emerged as “successful” businessmen. Some of
Saakashvili’s team-mates did not even have their own pair of shoes, so
the first brother to wake up in the morning would wear the shoes.
Today all of them are doing quite well and have villas in Europe.
Misha Saakashvili has indeed made the dreams of many people in his
entourage come true, but he has not realized Georgia’s dream.
Therefore, he is not a powerful magician.
[Rikadze] It is interesting that Ivanishvili is planning, together
with the People’s Assembly [opposition group], to name [parliamentary]
candidates who are to run in the first-past-the-post electoral
districts. How do you expect processes to develop after that?
[Kakhishvili] Ivanishvili is playing his own game in the coalition. So
far, only members of his party have been nominated in all
first-past-the-post electoral districts, the only concession being
Kutaisi, where Gubaz Sanikidze [one of the leaders of the National
Forum party] has been nominated. I expect mainly Ivanishvili’s people
to be among the top 20 candidates on the party list, which is likely
to create problems within the coalition. Coalition leaders may have
swallowed the nomination of members of Ivanishvili’s party in Guria
and Imereti [provinces in western Georgia], but they are now waiting
to see who will make it to the coalition list and who will be
nominated to run in other first-past-the-post electoral districts.
Ivanishvili has turned out to be a very interesting person. There does
not seem to be a single person who would not be playing his own game,
which is likely to create tension within the coalition.
The rallies staged in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Ozurgeti were well
organized. However, Ivanishvili should take into account the fact that
even though people support him, he is primarily someone protesting
against Saakashvili. Attendance at rallies does not necessarily mean
the ticking of the Georgian Dream box on the ballot paper. Winning the
elections requires getting voters to the polling places in a similarly
well-organized manner and monitoring the vote count after polls close.
I would not rule out attempts by the authorities to get the courts to
cancel the results at polling places where their opponents have
defeated them. I think that the 2012 election results will bring
people onto the streets. I do not think that Georgian Dream will be
pleased with the election results. The authorities will not let it
prevent them from securing two-thirds of the votes [seats] in
Parliament. In order to achieve that, they will resort to repressions
and electoral rigging. This will prepare the ground for Ivanishvili’s
coalition to take to the streets together with the people. This will
compel the authorities to agree to talks with the opposition on some
subjects. What the subject of the talks will be – re-running the
elections at some polling places, agreeing on a coalition government,
or redistributing seats on parliamentary committees – is a different
matter. However, I repeat, we should be expecting events to develop on
the streets after the elections.