Georgian media review for March 4-10

One of the most discussed topics on the pages of the Georgian media is still the situation inside the Georgian Dream coalition, which faced a threat of division and the exit of the Republicans. However, the coalition managed to avoid this version of events and to preserve its integrity.

‘’Due to a precautionary statement of the premiere, a special meeting was held between him and the Republicans, but nothing new was said – the coalition is still united – neither Tina Khidasheli leaves the Ministry of Defense, nor the Republicans leave the coalition. With a high probability, Gogi Topadze will remain their ally. Whether this meeting has discharged the tense situation in the Republican party and whether they have received satisfactory answers from the head of government, no one says openly. Tina Khidasheli and David Berdzenishvili left the office without comment. The premier did not speak to the media. According to David Usupashvili, the meeting was constructive and the Republicans are strategic partners with the Georgian Dream coalition, but Usupashvili did not specify whether this implies some changes to the strategic partnership,’’ Rezonansi reports.

"The political scientist Cornelius Kakachia claims that the tone of the statements of Kvirikashvili was very balanced, which points to the fact that his main strategy is to control the image, because the elections should be approached with minimal damage and everyone should be saved – Topadze, Khidasheli, the Republicans and the Industrialists." Excluding any subject from the coalition before the elections will reflect badly on the bloc’s image. Therefore attempts are made to keep everyone in their places. Kvirikashvili warned everyone that if they fail to find a common language, he is ready to say goodbye to one of them. Georgian Dream is a rather eclectic unit and has the same voters: pro-Western, pro-Russian and nationalist. As Kakachia explained, the coalition is aware of this, so they need the Republicans, considered the pro-Western party, and the Industrialists talking about the proximity to Russia,’’ the newspaper writes.

In this regard, many wonder how the leadership of Georgian Dream was able to keep it in the current composition. "The coalition unity was preserved, at least before the elections, it was decided after the call of the former Prime Minister Ivanishvili to Usupashvili. The fact that the former prime minister called the speaker of the parliament was confirmed by Usupashvili himself, and that the opposition to the coalition is exhausted and this topic is no more discussed at the meeting of the political council was repeated incessantly by the leaders of the coalition yesterday. The reason for completion of the ‘misunderstanding’ they ascribed not to the call of Ivanishvili, but the strict warning statement of Prime Minister Kvirikashvili, Rezonansi reports.

‘’The former adviser to the ex-Prime Minister Ivanishvili, Gia Khukhashvili, says that Ivanishvili nourishes sympathy for some Republicans, so in this case with a high probability this personal sympathy decided the fate of the Republicans. The Republicans themselves continue to speak convincingly about the bipartisan agreement. The more the Republicans speak about it, the more uncertainty it causes and the more critical of the rest of the coalition members the party is. The Secretary General of Georgian Dream, the leader of the parliamentary majority and the other MPs – all say that no bipartisan agreement has not been discussed, and a 5-party coalition could not have anything like this,’’ the newspaper reports.

"Nothing special was said about the point of agreement of the parties and the terms on which the confrontation finished. But we know that ex-Prime Minister Ivanishvili is involved in the discussion of the opposition, this was confirmed by the Chairman of the Parliament. According to David Usupashvili, he spoke on the phone about the situation in the coalition with the founder of the coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili. Whether any deal was discussed and on what terms the Republicans remained in the coalition, Usupashvili did not specify,’’ the published article reads.

However, there are the voices saying that a split in the coalition could be beneficial for Georgian society.

"The main problem is not that someone will have to move, and that the forward-thinking, young, ambitious people do not join Georgian Dream. This force is not associated by the future generations with progress. Georgian Dream is not a force that would attract young people, become an authority for them ... Look at the list of Georgian Dream – who can serve as an example?! Kvirikashvili, who created some kind of a center of attraction, but he still remains a new figure. He must prove that he is the real leader and control the situation. Some members of the coalition are more frightened by new faces than attracted and interested in them. With this in mind, there are few resources to upgrade Georgian Dream. I wish Kvirikashvili would find at least 4 or 5 people who will inspire society to hope for a better future,’’ the already mentioned Gia Khukhashvili said in an interview with Kviris Palitra.

"Until now, only a narrow circle of people knew about the opposition within the coalition, and it is now known to all. They are not united by anything, except parasitism on the shoulders of Bidzina Ivanishvili. No one believes that such a coalition can govern the country for another 4 years. From the state's point of view it would be right, and this is the standard of European democracy, that all the parties individually participate in the elections. This is a model of a modern multi-party democracy. For the state it will be helpful if this eclectic coalition will fall apart. Of course, Bidzina Ivanishvili has great influence on its unity or collapse. I think if Ivanishvili decides to dissolve the coalition, it will be an important decision for the state,’’ he said.

Against the background of these political subjects, the Georgian press does not forget such the topics such as the health situation. In particular, journalists paid attention to how things are going with health insurance, and found out that excessive budget spending often appears due to various additions.

‘’It may not be enough money for the program of general insurance this year. According to the data for January and February, the program is still scarce and the monthly cost overruns by more than 7 million GEL. If it is continued, at the end of the year the government will have to add another 100 million GEL. Experts blame the main reason for the growth of spending on incomplete monitoring and expediency. Sometimes, the clinic gives a patient on form №100 another nosology, and in fact carries out a very different operation, which is much cheaper. Also, the frequent cases when a patient is in the clinic for only 2 days, but according to the documents he spends 5-6 days there. The Ministry of Health reports about the violations in clinics. The deputy of David Sergeyenko, Zaza Sopromadze, confirms that the ministry plans to tighten control of the financial side of the program, at this stage the spending is going according to plan,’’  Rezonansi reports.

‘’General insurance, despite the depreciation of the national currency, has not risen in price in 2016, but the monthly cost of the program overruns by more than 7 million GEL. The reason for this can be the unproperly completed form №100 and the price ‘inflated’ by clinics. Ordinary patients also understand that clinics violate the law, but no one is ready to speak openly about this,’’ the newspaper notes.

"There are cases when a patient has to be in hospital for two days, and a medical institution writes it as 4-5 days. As a result, the clinic ‘withdraws’ money from the state for those extra days. In addition, the price of operations is also inflated, etc. It will be very difficult for the Ministry of Health to control this situation with the current resources," the publication cites the words of a doctor of medical sciences, a specialist in health policy and management Sergo Chikhladze.

The media also did not escape the attention of the European Commission decision to liberalize the visa regime between Georgia and the EU. "In summer the borders of 30 countries in Europe will be opened to citizens of Georgia. The legislative initiative on visa liberalization has already been presented to the citizens of Georgia. Georgian citizens who have biometric passports will be able to travel freely in Europe, but with some limitations. The first limitation is that a Georgian citizen will be able to remain on the territory of European countries for only 90 days in 180, that is, he can go there several times. The second limitation is that the visa-free regime does not allow Georgian citizens to work legally. Along with this, this mode will not work in the UK and Ireland, but we will be able to visit the other EU countries without a visa, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos, sent a legislative proposal to the EU Council and the European Parliament, " Rezonansi reports.

‘’An appropriate statement was made by Avramopoulos yesterday at a press conference. According to him, this is positive news, but it should not be surprising, since in December the European Commission published a positive recommendation on the issue of visa liberalization. The European Commissioner expressed hope that  ‘in the summer everything will be ready. It will take about 3 to 4 months,’’  Avramopoulos said. In his statement the commissioner stressed the Georgian government's efforts to make progress on the issue of visa liberalization. A few hours before the press conference of Dimitris Avramopoulos, information was published on the website of the official EU journal, according to which Georgia will enter the list of countries whose nationals will no longer need visas to visit the member states of the EU. ‘’By this document, the European Commission, as an executive association body, applies to two legislative bodies — the EU Council and the European Parliament – so that the amendments to the visa regulation be made accordingly," the newspaper writes.

Finally, once again the topic of a hypothetical meeting of the heads of Russia and Georgia was raised. ‘’The Russian media is talking again about a possible meeting between the top officials of Russia and Georgia. According to unofficial information, this matter could be discussed next week at the meeting of the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grigory Karasin and the special representative of the Georgian Prime Minister for relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze. In Abashidze's own words, at this stage preparations for the meeting are not being conducted, but he is willing to listen to the other side," Rezonansi informs its readers.

"Now the preparations are not being carried out, but if there is any idea, we will listen. Of course I will listen and tell you about it. Actually, on our part, a discussion of the meeting of the leaders is planned. The two sides have made statements about it several times. About the readiness, it was said that such a meeting could take place only after extensive preparation, so it can bring some results. I mean the most difficult topics – the conflict regions. Nobody needs a meeting for a meeting. When there will be an initiative, the Foreign Ministry will prepare the meeting, we will discuss with Karasin more specific issues – trade and humanitarian issues. Generally, if such a meeting takes place, as a rule, this should be handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the newspaper quotes the minister as saying.

"To plan and carry out such a meeting only makes sense if you know in advance the approximate result that can be achieved at this meeting. If the meeting is dedicated to the de-occupation of Georgia, this is the only issue on which you need to talk with the president of Russia ... You can always listen, there is nothing wrong with this. It is interesting what Russia suggests to us, but I repeat that to talk about ‘common topics’ such as trade and humanitarian issues, it is not necessary to prepare a meeting at the highest level. A meeting in the Karasin-Abashidze format will be enough. If Russia is ready to talk about this important problem for us and offer us effective measures in this regard, then, of course, the meeting makes sense. We have been talking about this several times. I think the Russian authorities have not left it unattended," the former foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze echoes Zurab Abashidze.