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Opposition’s Appeal to International Community

English text provided by the opposition Georgia’s Way Party press office

March 16

The Georgian opposition – entering today the second week of a hunger strike, in which more than a hundred persons, 13 MP’s, most of  the leaders of the nine parties’ coalition «unified opposition», the whole parliamentary faction of the «New Rights Party», and has spread to the major cities of Georgia : Batumi, Kutaisi, Poti, Lanchkuti, hereby appeals to the international community.


This hunger strike started as the last resort and the most peaceful protest in answer to the arrogance of the Georgian authorities. They have made a daily mockery of their commitments to provide the minimal conditions in order to hold free and fair parliamentary elections and thus towards the democratic standards they pretend to be applying. They have systematically refused any compromise or concession in the framework of the so called dialogue, that the opposition has accepted to hold, despite the criticism of a population that no longer trusts any promise of the authorities. This decision to suspend mass demonstrations and to enter into dialogue has been taken by the authorities, not as a sign of responsibility in order to find a way out of the crisis by guaranteeing fair elections, but as a sign of weakness. Not enticing them to compromise but as an opportunity to exploit the situation to its own advantage.


Pushing their advantage is what the authorities did when adopting on March, 11th a provocatory law, which tends to guarantee to the existing majority at least 75 out of the 150 seats of the new parliament. This law has been presented and adopted in less than three days, without any form of consultation of the opposition, not being part of the agenda of discussions concerning the electoral process supposedly directed at avoiding frauds and excesses that marked the last presidential elections of January 5th, that the final report of the OSCE published last week ultimately admits.


This arrogant behavior of the authorities, which contradicts the idea of dialogue and makes it senseless, can be seen as a provocation to push the opposition in the street and try to discredit it in the eyes of the outside world, present it as an irresponsible force, at a time when the tension with Russia about Abkhazia might be reignited.


Meanwhile the Georgian opposition is convinced that a the only possible peaceful solution to the Abkhazian conflict can be proposed by a Georgia that will have found its own peace, consensus and prosperity, by a democratic and self assured Georgia, hence a Georgia capable of convincing its neighbors and separatist entities of the truthfulness of its intentions and of its reconciliation plan. The question of the acceptation of Georgia into the NATO Membership Action Plan at the coming Bucharest Summit, should also be seen in this context. All the nine unified parties of the Unified Coalition as well as the cosignatories of this text, i.e. New Right party, support the Nato and European integration objectives as fundamental priorities for Georgia.


We want to recall that it would be unacceptable for the Georgian people and its opposition that some member states deprive Georgia of its unalienable right to choose freely its alliance in order not to displease a powerful neighbor.  Such an appeasement policy would be in our view the worst possible and one susceptible of increasing rather than decreasing the appetite of an old imperial power, as history teaches us.


But on the other hand it would be incomprehensible for the Georgian population, strong and wholehearted supporter of  these orientations, that the international community  which has set the achievement of democratic standards as one of the priorities of IPAP , could either accept or delay the candidature of Georgia without making reference to the democratic deficit , to the imperfect presidential elections of January 5th, to the obligation to correct the parliamentary elections and to the indecent conditions  that have pushed the totality of the Georgian opposition to hunger strike.


Georgia, in which today  nothing is guaranteed neither the freedom of vote, nor the independence of the judiciary, or the inviolability of private property, or the individual freedoms, or the free expression of free media, especially television, cannot be considered as a trusted partner of the international community as long as those conditions are not  changed and if Georgia does not demonstrate that it can find an issue to its political crisis through fair and recognized elections, as a normal democratic country.


This appeal of the Georgian opposition is addressed in the first place to its European partners whom we call upon to help Georgia go through this very crucial test and get back on the path towards democracy, which is today suspended.


The Georgian Opposition rejects any attempt of the authorities to transfer responsibility for the interruption of the dialogue, for a failure of the Georgian candidature in Nato, nor for any adventure it might embark upon in the separatist regions.


The Georgian opposition reaffirms its disposition to enter a dialogue in the interest of the country and to save the electoral process, but, unable to trust the authorities, appeals to the international community to serve as a mediator of a negotiation of the last chance.


The Georgian opposition underlines its solidarity with the Armenian population and its hope that democracy in Armenia will also recover, for on our countries depends the fate of Democracy in the Caucasus and the stability of a region which occupies a strategic place and represents an important potential for energy as well as trade transit.


Conscious of the fact that the stability of this region which today lies on the border of Europe and the Black Sea cannot be indifferent to a Europe that has just decided to put a special accent on the Mediterranean basin , of which we are an undissociable part, the Georgian opposition, represented in Europe by one of its leaders and the former Minister for foreign affairs, Mrs. Salomé Zourabichvili, calls upon its European friends and in particular, Mr. Javier Solana, High Representative,  the Slovenian presidency, The Polish, Estonian and French president, the German Chancellor and the British Prime minister to answer this plea for democracy.
United Opposition


National Forum – Kakha Shartava
Freedom Party  – Konstantin Gamsakhurdia
Movement for United Georgia    – Eka Beselia
Conservative Party   – Zviad Dzidziguri
Way of Georgia     – Salome Zourabichvili
Georgian Dasi   – Jondi Bagaturia
We ourselves      – Paata Davitaia
Party of People      –  Koba Davitashvili
Levan Gachechiladze
Giorgi Khaindrava
New Rights     – David Gamkrelidze  
Republicans Party   – David Usupashvili

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