Government Discredited, but Desperate
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Presidential-backed election alliance |
“There is no time for election campaigning. We must distribute salaries and pensions. This would be the best election campaign,” President Shevardnadze said at the government’s meeting on October 15.
“The pro-governmental bloc has different tactics, we have chosen another approach. We do not look at these elections from the party’s point of view. We are not actively campaigning not because we are avoiding meetings with the voters, but we try to gain their confidence with our deeds,” Elguja Medzmariashvili, one of the leaders of the For New Georgia election bloc told Civil Georgia.
The government’s insistence that it is actively engaged in solving social problems seems to be undermined by the facts on the ground. In the past years, repayment of the salary and pension backlog and other social activities of the authorities were clear indications that the elections were looming.
“I was used to be happy on the eve of each election, because at least the roads were repaired by the government to please the voters. But now the government doesn’t make even this kind of minor things in order to somehow improve its faded reputation,” Tbilisite taxi driver Tamaz told Civil Georgia.
“Before the previous elections we had unlimited electricity supply and the salaries and pensions were also paid on time. But now even the elections do not seem to help us,” Tamar Makroshvili, a villager from the eastern Georgian region of Kakheti told Civil Georgia.
With the government coffers strained it is unclear how the authorities intend to deal with the social problems. The Parliamentary Committee on Tax and Revenues reported on October 7 that the budgetary shortfall during the nine months of 2003 exceeded 142 million Lari (approximately USD 67 million).
Observers say the presidential-backed election bloc’s tactics to be passive on the eve of the election is quite understandable.
“It seems more realistic that they simply had nothing to offer to the people. The President and his supporters suffer with extremely law public confidence. I think being idle was the best choice for them under such circumstances,” Ia Antadze of the Radio Liberty told Civil Georgia.
Leaders of the opposition parties claim that “black-PR and smearing of opponents” is the main form of election campaign of the presidential-backed election alliance.
Last week spokesperson of the presidential-backed bloc Irina Sarishvili-Chanturia accused leader of the Burjanadze-Democrats election alliance and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze of collaborating with the Russian secret services.
“In fact their ‘black PR’ turned against them, because they did nothing but further irritating the society with their groundless and absurd accusations. With this kind of tactics the government wants to involve us in its dirty campaign and draw our attention from the election campaign,” Giorgi Baramidze of Burjanadze-Democrats told Civil Georgia.
Ia Antadze says that the presidential-backed election bloc’s decision to accuse Burjanadze in cooperation with the Russian secret services seems to be a part of the bloc For New Georgia’s election campaign. Ia Antadze thinks that similar statements could be made in address of other opposition leaders as well.
“But I think it is not very useful tactics. Accusation of Nino Burjanadze, who tops all the recent opinion polls, definitely brought no success to the government,” she added.
According to a survey commissioned by independent Rustavi-2 broadcasting company and conducted among 1,300 respondents throughout Georgia by the Tbilisi-based IPM group (Institute for Polling and Marketing), the election alliance For New Georgia is hardly to clear 7% barrier, necessary to take seats in the Parliament.
With the child’s face on its banner, it seems that the presidential-backed alliance decided to make stakes on the new generation in its campaign. While addressing his supporters at the presentation of the election platform of the bloc For New Georgia on October 10, President Shevardnadze called on the population to foster the increase in the birth rate in the country.
“Printing the faces of their nominees on the posters would not be proper, as it would not have attracted a voter, since everybody knows who they are. They know it too and that is why they chose to put a face of a child on the poster. However, people can hardly understand such a message,” Ia Antadze said.
“I think everybody is tired of seeing party leaders on the posters. We lay special emphasis on the future generation. Our priority is to make the policy of the whole state a guarantee for prosperity of the future generation,” Elguja Medzmariashvili of the election bloc For New Georgia explained.
But ironically, while the presidential-backed bloc was presenting its election platform promising happy future for the new generation, the police were beating up and arresting the students protesting against the president and the government on October 10 in front of the State Chancellery (the President’s administration).
Observers say there is too mach at stake for the authorities in this election and they are desperate to succeed in the elections. The opposition claims that the government has nothing to lose and will do everything to retain power and the ballot fraud is the only way for the authorities to succeed in the elections.
“The presidential-backed election bloc’s campaign is intimidation of voters, preparation for ballot fraud and smearing its opponents. They will maximally use the state resources to ensure seats in the Parliament,” Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson says.