POLITICAL BREAKTHROUGH Tskhinvali’s ‘prosecutor’ mastered the not-so-subtle art of political blackmail by telling the ‘MPs’ that if they keep pushing for his resignation, he’d dump the files he has on them and they’d end up court. This man is a straight talker, we give him that. But what a nerve, after his police honchos apparently killed a man during interrogation.
WORTH DEFENDING Who would defend a place like that?! Well, perhaps an authoritarian state with superpower ambition and a penchant for poisoning political opponents? Presently, the works to build border fortifications around the occupied lands have resumed 300 meters off Georgia’s main East-West highway today and are poised to swallow up a major part of the oil pipeline bringing Azerbaijani oil to Turkey. Georgia protests.
THE SECOND WAVE Georgian doctors have registered a record 38 cases of new Covid-19 infections, with a resort town of Batumi acting as the new hub. Gracefully, there were 17 recoveries. Things go awry in Abkhazia as well, with 25 new cases. Apparently, the new wave hits home, and at the very end of the school year, too… On a brighter note, one of Georgia’s top docs said the country ordered 700 thousand vaccines which will be distributed to the frontline personnel and particularly vulnerable citizens, when it is finally available…
ELECTION WATCH The campaign for the parliamentary elections on October 31 has officially kicked off. If you intend to follow the drama, you must get hold of our “key dates and figures” sheet and keep it close by as the contenders battle it out!
KEEPING WATCH From January 1, 20201 Georgian border guards will decide, whether a Georgian citizen may benefit from visa-free travel to Europe – this is the essence of the new legislation passed today by the parliament. While triggering the understandable outcry, the measure is not unheard of: many eastern Balkan countries who got to travel in Schengen zone of countries without a treasured piece of paper had to resort to a similar measure when the asylum claims skyrocketed. Denying exit from the country is a measure that is questionable on constitutional grounds though, and is likely to end up in court.
That was full lid for today!