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CIRCUS IS IN TOWN The election dust-up is upcoming. If you are new to town, what better way to make your mark then a loud brawl with the big guy. Apparently so thinks Mr. Aleko Elisashvili, who broke ranks with the multi-striped united opposition and has been bad-mouthing Giga Bokeria, European Georgia‘s heavyweight. Dismissive, Bokeria said Mr. Elisashvili was propping losers as candidates. Elisashvili says the times of dirty politics are over and Bokeria can’t measure up to the honest guy (himself, obviously). Below the belt, but hey, these will be low-threshold elections…
and while we are onto boxing, let’s hear from Tbilisi mayor:
…THE FIST OF TRUTH Whoever spreads falsehoods about the Mayor’s office would taste that painful fist of truth, promised Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze. That far west cowboy charm sits well with the former Milan and Dinamo Kyiv football superstar. In his boxing with shadows, Kaladze punched up the “marginalized politicians” who “spread lies and slander”. The fist of truth these days is apparently packaged into a sleek glove of a video package, delivered to your television every day at 22pm sharp. Stay tuned?
FAMILY BLISS has apparently befallen the relatives of one majoritarian MP Anzor Bolkvadze, whose assorted relatives cashed in 6 million GEL since his election, by being appallingly successful in winning various state-run contracts, says Transparency International, a watchdog. MP Bolkvadze takes up an issue with these rumors: “if I was bereft of relatives and friends, I won’t be in the parliament the third term running.” And he has a point, you may bet he does…
WRONG CHOICE? A large squadron of Georgian watchdogs have fired a salvo at Human Rights Committee chair Sopio Kiladze. A total of 53 CSOs addressed an appeal to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, a UN body, not to welcome Ms. Kiladze on its board. She has taken a dim view on minority rights during her tenure, watchdogs claimed. They found fault with Kiladze’s track record on children’s rights, questioning her expertise in the field. Ms. Kiladze, no friend of rights groups, took a firm stand – “If a certain group of CSOs confronts you, it only means you took the right track,” she jeered.
VLAD’S GUESTS A pandemic may slow Russia’s big man down, but it can’t hold him down: Mr. Putin was enjoying his delayed parade on June 24, replete with khaki-colored dangerous toys and some real soldiers. But the Tzars are nothing without his posse. In that the showing was lackluster: Presidents of Serbia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Belarus showed up along them – the newly minted Abkhaz leader Bzhania and Tskhinvali’s Bibilov were carted in. No masks were worn. Coronavirus caseload jumped by 7100 in that day in Moscow. Tough men don’t cough.
That’s full lid for today!