Old-day Celebration Used for Advocacy

NGOs and Civil Activists Call for Preserved Tbilisi Architecture, Elected Mayor

Civil activists of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi and some of the local NGOs added disquiet to city festival of Tbilisoba on October 27. Gathered in an old city park they have protested damage done to the city architecture and called for elections of the city mayor.

Tbilisoba, or the day of the capital is a soviet-era phenomenon. Established in 1970s Tbilisoba was a convenient occasion to demonstrate unity of the Communist party and the people. But unlike many soviet-era holidays, Tbilisoba drew on a stronger popular sympathy, as it had its roots in an ancient tradition of the celebration of fall harvest. Thus, truckloads of seasonal fruits, meat and wine would reach the capital and engulf it in series of street barbeques and bazaars. Traditionally, the new and renovated buildings would also officially open, with the Communist leadership attending.

A tradition was revived in mid-1990s, but without much of popular interest. Marina, a 34-year old engineer says, “Tbilisoba brings only garbage and two days of smoke of the barbeques, but nothing valuable and important is done for the city itself.”

This year, however, some civil activists gave a new twist to the celebrations. Some of Tbilisi intelligentsia, arts community and active NGOs organized what they called “TbiliSOSoba” an event aimed at pinpointing some of the trends that hurt their native town.

A sting of the TbiliSOSoba was primarily directed against the municipality. Participants said, new high-rise buildings emerging in historical streets and districts of the city, damage an intimate architectural style so characteristic for the Georgian capital.

This issue was on the agenda of many native Tbilisites who sued the builders of concrete goliaths, however they were able to present official permits by the city municipal services. Now the citizens say, municipality has to respond for their deeds.

One of the organizers of the event, David Magradze, a poet and formerly the Minister of Culture says, that the problem is political. According to the current legislation Tbilisi mayor is appointed by the president, not elected by the city inhabitants. Thus, he argues, legitimate interests of the citizens do not top the agenda of the mayor.

Against the background of the energetic concerto in an ancient city park, TbiliSOSoba participants wooed to make the mayor fully accountable to approximately 1.5 million Tbilisites. Tina Khidasheli, of Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) dismisses the government argument that the elected mayor would not be efficient manager. “If our citizens can elect the president, almost one-third of our citizens – i.e. the Tbilisites – can surely elect the mayor,” she says.

Marika Didebulidze, art historian, considers policy of Tbilisi municipality as quite far from democratic concepts. Lack of accountability is obvious in the activities conducted for the city, as they are more associated with benevolence, rather than responsibility. “Nowadays frequently used modern conception of “Transparency” is not adequately understood in city municipality,” she believes.

During the event, organizers collected the signatures to appeal to the Parliament calling for changes in electoral legislation that would make the Tbilisi mayor an elective position. They also plan to award the “Aga-Mahmud Khan” Order – a mockery prize named after a Turkman conqueror who ravaged Tbilisi, for the person responsible for most damage done to the city.

TbiliSOSoba showed that the city activism is alive and has some new ideas to offer. Advocacy.GE would keep you informed on developments.