Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK
Georgia will hold parliamentary polls in only a few days. It seems that the final week will be the most intense. The scandal over tortures at the Gldan prison shows polarization of society and proves that confrontation may turn worsen, especially if opposition refuses to recognize the results on October 1. There are no doubts that Georgian Dream of billionaire Ivanishvili would accept no other result than the majority of seats at the parliament.
The torture videos provoked such public outrage that supporting the ruling party United National Movement seems unpleasant. A few weeks ago, young people with red T-shirts and symbols of the ruling party were just as common as followers of Georgian Dream with blue T-shirts. Excess of blue colour is getting obvious.
The police arrested some members of the Georgian Dream on Sunday for throwing stones at supporters of the ruling party during their trip to Zugdidi. The city may become the symbol of counterrevolution, because it is the place for confrontation between Irakly Alasania, whom Ivanishvili called the oppositionist candidate for president of 2013, and the former prosecutor of the Samegrelo Region Roland Akhalaya. He is the father of former Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaya, who resigned after the prison scandal (http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/31672.html).
Some believe that Roland Akhalaya may quit the elections after his son’s resignation, but President Saakashvili managed to convince his supporter to avoid aggravation of the complicated situation the ruling team is in. Saakashvili visited Zugdidi personally and met his supporters, bright and emotional as usual. The president said that “forces of the past are trying to trick the people by blaming the country’s authorities for the tortures”, when in fact “he knew nothing about the tortures and dismissed two ministers responsible and arrested penal officers as soon as he learned about it”. The Georgian leader hinted that billionaire Ivanishvili paid a large sum for collection and publication of the videos, according to an order of the Kremlin. The latter is believed to be paying huge sums to discredit Georgia.
Georgian Dream had a meeting at the square earlier. It was just as massive. Ivanishvili promised “justice for all” and “punishments for the monsters who tortured and raped people in prisons”. Zugdidi is only 4 km away from the border of Abkhazia and the opposition leader had to mention the topic of Georgian-Abkhaz relations: “We spilt each other’s blood and there is no excuse to that, but time heals and a moment of reconciliation comes”.
The main opponents are trying to prove their self-confidence to the voters. The president recovered after the first shock and is now trying to show how confident he is in achieving victory, demonstrating success of his government. For example, he opened another “miracle” of state service at Tbilisi center, the grand Justice Center where anyone may request inquiries or documents while having a cup of coffee or even staying in the car. The president presented a skyscraper of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a branch of the American institute in Batumi.
Nonetheless, these colourful shows and real achievements cannot compensate the shock the public suffered after publications of humiliation of people in prisons. It is hard to describe the real state of affairs at the moment, because all social polls of NDI, IRI and other institutions were held long before the outrageous scandal the whole country experienced. This is why the upcoming polls will be the most unexpected elections in modern history of the country.
