‘I Welcome Early Polls in November’ – Influential Pundit

Now is the right time for the authorities to hold a parliamentary election, as a landslide victory is guaranteed, Levan Ramishvili, the head of Liberty Institute, an influential non-governmental organisation with close links to the government, said.

“I would welcome holding elections this November,” he said in an interview with the Georgian daily 24 Saati (24 Hours), published on October 15. “I think it would be a very good opportunity to defuse political tensions and give the people the chance to give their views on what is the best political course for the country’s interests amid the ongoing [political] standoff [between the opposition and the authorities].”

Ten opposition groups are jointly campaigning for parliamentary elections in April, instead of late 2008.

Ramishvili said that if the authorities decided to hold early elections, the polls would be set at the most convenient time for the ruling party. “And that time is now,” he said.

“It is unlikely that any opposition party would even clear the 7% threshold, according to the latest public opinion surveys,” Ramishvili said, without giving more details on these surveys. “There is even a risk that we would have a one-party parliament if elections were held in November.”

He said the opposition are “totally marginalized”, which has “forced them to radicalize, leading to even more marginalization.”

“[The opposition’s] hate rhetoric,” Ramishvili said, “forces moderate voters to maintain their distance. These moderate voters might be dissatisfied with the current situation, but stability is more important for them… Currently no one [not a single opposition force] is targeting this segment of voters.”

In the current political standoff, he said he saw “nothing new or anything threatening or dangerous” for the government.

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