Opposition Teams Up to Attack Authorities over Multiple Issues

Opposition parties have restarted attacking authorities over multiple issues in July, which the ruling party officials consider as a part of the opposition’s campaign on the eve of local elections scheduled for this autumn.

The election code, police violence, court hearings over Girgvliani high-profile murder case, arrest of human rights campaigner, as well as developments in the Tbilisi State University – these issues have now topped the opposition parties’ agenda, which have decided to set up, as they described it, “an emergency headquarters” to promptly react on the authorities’ illegal moves.

“The authority’s popularity is now all time low and we should use this opportunity,” MP Zurab Tkemaladze, leader of the Industrialists party, said on July 4.

Leaders of seven political parties – New Rights, Republican, Conservative, Industrialist, Labor, Freedom and People’s Forum – signed a joint statement on June 30, in which they demanded holding of the election of the Tbilisi City Council – Sakrebulo through a proportional, party-list system, otherwise warned they will consider boycotting of the local self-governance elections.

Most of the opposition leaders think they are doomed to failure if local elections are held through the current rule, envisaging election of two-third of Sakrebulo members through a first-past-the-post, “winner takes all” majoritarian system. Radicals, including the Labor and Conservative parties, insist that the opposition should jointly boycott elections if the current rule is not change. While moderates, including the Republican Party, only say that they “will seriously consider” boycott tactics if the authorities do not compromise on this issue.

Inaccurate voter lists is yet another source of concern for the opposition parties. But the issue seems to be removed from the agenda at least for time being after the Parliament approved a proposal of the Republican Party, envisaging creation of monitoring groups, which will recheck voter lists by visiting each family, door-by-door. GEL 3, 5 million will be allocated for this purpose.

Ongoing debates over elections have coincided with the launch of a court hearing on Sandro Girgvliani’s murder case. Four officers from the Interior Ministry face murder charges. In addition, family of the victim as well as opposition parties and some human right groups accuse several former top-level Interior Ministry officials of being behind the murder.

Attorneys of the Girgvliani family now try to prove at the trial that the Girgvliani murder, or at least his persecution through beating him up, was ordered by these former officials. Attorney Shalva Shavgulidze said on July 3 that questioning of key witnesses into the case has further confirmed his position that the crime was ordered and was not a result of a spontaneous quarrel between the victim and suspects as claimed by prosecutors.

Opposition leaders were in the focus of the Georgian media’s attention during the court hearing on July 3 as they have verbally sparred with the judge accusing him of bias and calling him “an executioner;” as a result judge Giorgi Chemia ordered MP Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rights party, to leave the courtroom, but the parliamentarian disobeyed. Later Chairman of the Supreme Court Kote Kublashvili announced that MP Gamkrelidze will no longer be able to attend trial over Girgvliani’s case.

On the same day some opposition leaders also appeared in the Tbilisi State University (TSU), where one part of the university academicians staged a protest rally, broke into the acting rector Giorgi Khubua’s office and demanded his resignation. Some university academicians are against of competition proposed by the university’s new administration to fill 550 vacant positions in the TSU. Officials view these protests as an attempt to slow down radical reforms ongoing in the university.

Education Minister Kakha Lomaia has condemned involvement of the opposition politicians – leaders of the New Rights, Labor and Freedom parties among them – in the university standoff.

But some opposition parties, including the Republicans, pursue more cautious approach to this issue refraining to show up at noisy protest rallies in the university, as they have always voiced their support towards the reform in the TSU, but they also note that these reforms should not be marred with legal flaws.

The opposition leaders are unanimous in respect of detention of four activists from the Equality Institute non-governmental organization, which has recently turned into a radical watchdog group often staging noisy protest rallies against the police violence.

Four activists, including chief of the group Irakli Kakabadze, were detained and sentenced to 30-day imprisonment when they were protesting outside the Court of Appeals in Tbilisi demanding through a megaphone a fair trial for jailed founder of the 202 TV Shalva Ramishvili on June 29. Eka Tkeshelashvili, Chairman of the Court of Appeals, said activists were insulting judge and creating obstacles to a court hearing.

The arrest and imprisonment of four activists triggered protest of not only opposition parties and some human right groups, but of Public Defender Sozar Subari as well. Subari said on July 4 that a person can only be arrested if he stages disorders inside the court building and this provision of the Criminal Procedure Code can not be applied if a person is protesting outside the court’s building.

The opposition leaders have demanded an immediate release of four activists describing them as “political prisoners” who have been jailed only for publicly voicing their opinions outside the court’s building.

Most of these seven opposition parties, jointly attacking the government’s policies in various fields, stand on radically different political platforms, which makes them vulnerable to the authorities’ criticism.

“I do not see any sincerity behind the opposition’s activities. They are driven only by the upcoming elections and each of their moves can be considered as part of their campaigning,” Giga Bokeria, an influential parliamentarian from the ruling National Movement party, told Rustavi 2 television on July 3.

Salome Zourabichvili, ex-Foreign Minister and the leader of newly established party Georgia’s Way, is the only influential political figure who tries to distance herself from the grouping of seven opposition parties, which some of the Georgian media sources have already dubbed as G7. Zourabichvili says that most of the current opposition leaders are discredited in the eyes of the Georgian voters. She has offered other opposition parties only issue-based cooperation without any further merger or teaming up on the eve of the elections, which has triggered irritation of other opposition leaders.

Another group of active opposition forces is made up of organizations and parties affiliated with Moscow-based ex-security chief Igor Giorgadze, who is wanted by Georgia for terrorism charges. But no other influential political party is willing to cooperate with Russian-backed Giorgadze’s Justice Party.

In March opposition had a similar attempt to attack authorities over multiple issues topping political agenda at that time. But through combining protests against Girgvliani murder case and cash-registers  the opposition failed to reach any result. Several protest rallies were also staged at that time but not large enough to make authorities compromise.