Ruling Party Promises not to Boycott Imedi

Ruling party members and state officials will participate in political talk shows hosted by Imedi television station, Davit Bakradze, the state minister for conflict resolution issues and Mikheil Saakashvili?s re-election campaign spokesman, said.

?I want to stress that the absolute majority of journalists from Imedi television are professionals and we have no complaints against them,? he said on December 7. ?It is regrettable that these highly skilled and devoted people were used by a certain dishonest force [referring to Imedi co-owner Badri Patarkatsishvili] for personal political advantage.?

Government and ruling party officials had been boycotting Imedi TV and refusing to participate in political debates hosted by the station for over a year. As a result, such shows eventually seemed more like opposition propaganda platforms rather than neutral ground for political exchange.

Imedi was shut down in a police raid on November 7. Although the authorities allowed the television station back on air a month later, actual broadcasting remains impossible because  of missing and damaged studio equipment, following the the police raid.

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