The Burjanadze-Democrats Start Election Race

Nino Burjanadze’s face on the banner of the newly created Burjanadze-Democrats election bloc clearly shows that Zurab Zhvania, leader of the United Democrats and!
former chairman of the Parliament put all stakes on Burjanadze for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The official ceremony for launching the election campaign of the Burjanadze-Democrats bloc was held on August 22 in Zugdidi, a western Georgian frontline town at the Abkhazian administrative border.
 
“Ever since I entered politics, I have always started my election campaigns in Zugdidi and I have always achieved success. This has become a kind of tradition for me. I am sure we will win these elections as well,” Zurab Zhvania said in Zugdidi.

“It is very symbolic to start the campaign in Zugdidi, for the people of this region have witnessed the hardships of war and many other problems for the last 10 years. Therefore it is our desire to stand with you, share your problems and seek their solution together,” said the bloc’s leader, the Chairperson of the Parliament, Nino Burjanadze.

Zurab Zhvania said that the n!
ew bloc would be “a radical opposition. But our harsh c!
riticism of the government and President will be constructive without any populism.”

The journey to western Georgia proved for Zhvania that he made the right choice to give up his own ambitions by letting Burjanadze lead the election bloc. Despite Zhvania’s radical opposition stance, people still remember when he was President Shevardnadze’s closest ally in the mid and late 90s.

“You were Parliamentary Chairman for a long time [1995-2001] and Shevardnadze’s ally. What have you done for us?” Zugdidi residents asked Zhvania. “I have separated from the government and the President for the very reason that they did not want to protect the people’s interests,” Zhvania responded.

“I trust Burjanadze, rather than Zhvania. I hope that she will be able to do much more for the people than Zhvania does. After all she is a woman and therefore she should be more able to understand our pain,” Nino Kiria, !
a Zugdidi resident, told Civil Georgia.

Pension and salary backlogs, as well as the restoration of territorial integrity are the main concerns of the impoverished Zugdidi residents, almost half of whom are internally displaced persons from Abkhazia.

“I cannot promise you anything particular. I will also tell you frankly that we will not be able to return you to Abkhazia in the near future. I know what your pension is and I know very well that it is impossible to live like a human being should with 14 Lari [USD 6,5] a month. Still, the government claims that the country is on the road to economic development. This is a lie. I know your pain and I am ready to fight for better lives for you, if you support us in the elections,” Nino Burjanadze said while meeting with the local population.

Locals in Zugdidi would defiantly go to ballot on Novembe!
r 2, but without much hope for better future. “Do not b!
e pessimistic. Hopelessness is our major enemy,” Zurab Zhvania told the locals in Zugdidi.

However it would be very difficult for the politicians to invoke hope in the impoverished population, which has suffered war, exile, and social and economic hardship during the last decade.

“Although we do not really believe that something will change and we will live better, we will vote to at least to express our opinion. But the problem is that I am not sure that my vote will not become the victim of fraud by the authorities,” a Zugdidi resident told Civil Georgia. 

By Tea Gularidze, Civil Georgia

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