Orkhan Sattarov. Exclusively to VK
The parliamentary elections in Georgia were marked by the big success of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s party. The elections are covered by the European mass media in detail.
Spiegel published the article headlined “Georgia votes for its billionaire.” It says that Georgians have chosen change. The post-Soviet republic is on the verge of changing power. The current president Saakashvili is dispirited, and his opponent Ivanishvili has all reasons for hoping for the victory. Saakashvili’s party which gained 119 out of 150 PM mandates in 2008 is defeated today. Nine years after the Revolution of Roses Georgia has voted for change, the periodical states. “The current parliamentary elections are an important point of Georgian history. They indicate a democratic change of power – for the first time in 20 years of independence. The day after voting it is still unclear whether Saakashvili’s era has come to an end or not. Ivanishvili didn’t exclude cooperation with the current president, but he noted that Saakashvili doesn’t want to deal with him. The key role in the future distribution of the power will be played by the current prime minister Vano Merabishvili. Previously he was proud of the police reform and successful struggle against corruption. He is one of the main supporters of the current president, but he is also respected by the opposition. As Ivanishvili said ahead of the elections: "Merabishvili is more ingenious than Saakashvili",” Spiegel wrote.
The other German tabloid Die Welt is sure of the continuation of the pro-Western course by Georgia after Ivanishvili’s victory: “A train of beeping cars with blue flags where number 41 is printed – the number of Georgian Dream in voting lists – is passing the center of Tbilisi. Flags of the European Union and NATO are among them – a clear hint that the pro-Western political direction will be maintained under the new government.”
The Swiss political TV-show Tagesshau calls the elections in Georgia fateful. The USA and Europe considers Georgia a successful democratic model for not only the Caucasus region, but the whole post-Soviet area. A billion dollars were invested in it for supporting this model. It is still unclear whether Saakashvili will pass an “exam on democracy” and give the power without provocations and scandals. Tagesshau reminds that for many years Saakashvili have been developing Georgia for Ivanishvili’s money – but the current president doesn’t speak about it. The Georgian billionaire intends to continue the pro-Western policy directed at joining the EU and NATO. At the same time, he would like to improve relations between Georgia and Russia.
“Billionaire Ivanishvili celebrates victory in “shelter for the poor” in Georgia” is a provocative headline of the article on the Georgian elections published by the German Stern. Mikhail Saakashvili’s monopoly became a history, while billionaire Ivanishvili gets power in very poor Georgia, Stern reported. At the same time, the periodical informs on violations during the elections in Hashuri.
In general the reports by the European mass media indicate that Europe doesn’t pay attention to Saakashvili’s statements that Ivanishvili is “the Kremlin’s agent.” Moreover, Saakashvili was heavily criticized by Western journalists during the election campaign. They believe that he leads Georgia to authoritarianism. Critical articles about Ivanishvili were very rare.
