Share
Ellen Barry reports on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s decision to concede defeat and declare himself an opposition politician in the parliamentary elections on Tuesday, after his party lost the Oct. 1 parliamentary elections to the Georgian Dream coalition 55.1 percent to 40.1 percent. This decision is “extraordinary” as other Georgian post-Soviet leaders have left office only after “pressure from chanting crowds and the threat of civil war.”
“‘You know well that the views of this coalition were, and still are, fundamentally unacceptable for me… But democracy works in this way — the Georgian people make decisions by majority,’” said Mr. Saakashvili about his decision.
In the run up to the election, many feared “a confrontation between government forces and the throngs of voters who had coalesced around Mr. Saakashvili’s challenger, the billionaire philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili.” Despite these fears, many celebrated the recent events, including Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, who remarked that Mr. Saakashvili’s concession is a sign of his “‘commitment to the democratic process.’’’ Republican Congressman David Dreier of California, who lead a delegation from the International Republican Institute (IRI) said that it was “'clearly the most competitive election in the history of the country.'”
Saakashvili’s concession, however, “opens to the door to another unknown.” Mr. Saakasvhili will remain president until next year, which means “he will have to serve alongside Mr. Ivanishvili, who will most likely be prime minister.” Many, including Ivanishvili himself, fear that the “two men can [could] not collaborate,” given their fundamentally different political ideologies and visions for Georgia’s future.
