Georgian Revolution was unsuccessful - Erosi Kitsmarishvili

Eight years have passed since the Revolution of Roses. The leaders of the revolution no longer seem united. Former prime minister Zurab Zhvania is dead, former parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze oppose incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili and Erosi Kitsmarishvili, former owner off the Rustavi-2 TV channel had immigrated to the United States, but soon returned to struggle against 'Saakashvili's autocratic regime'. VK correspondent asked him to tell some some words about the results of the 2003 revolution.

- What can you say about the revolution?

- My attitude to the revolution is dual. On the one hand, I will never forget, how happy we were during the peaceful revolution of 2003. It was a time of joy, the international community and the Georgian society supported revolutionaries. It was a time of great expectations and great opportunities. On the other hand, a lot of these chances were not actually taken. That's very deplorable. Of course some successful reforms were carried out, but the fact that the present day political elite established an autocratic regime remains the same. Now, in 2010, we are facing the same problems as in 2003 with the only difference that we lost some of our territories and lost much time. This forces me to say that the Georgian Revolution was unsuccessful. Our society is deeply depressed, it will take much time to change the situation. Our people regret the chances not being taken. We believed that we would manage to establish a European-style democracy, but we still live in a post-Soviet autocratic country. The economic situation is hard, we survive only because of the Western aid.

- Does it mean that the revolution itself was a mistake?

- By no means. The revolution was not a mistake, our leaders made a mistake adopted a wrong program. The 2003 revolution was inevitable, it was a peaceful revolution that crushed the former regime. It was a great achievement of our people. That was the same thing that happened in late 80s in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries. Unfortunately, one man, I mean Mikheil Saakashvili, abused the revolution. He adopted his own dictatorship. My own mistake is that I didn't take part in the process after Shevarnadze's resignation. I should have controlled the media and struggle against Saakashvili. If such case, Georgian would now be another country. That was my mistake that regret deeply. Now I'm trying to improve the situation and I hope that I will manage to do it, that our people will succeed in the formation of a true democracy. We are now facing a crucial point. I'm talking about the coming elections. Our future depends on these polls.

Interview by Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to VK