By Vestnik Kavkaza
The next municipal elections are going to be held in Georgia in a month. According to a report by the National Institution of Democracy (US) published by the Civil.ge website, the fundamental democratic instituations exist in the country, however there are some serious problem, which may undermine the achieved success. The violent confrontation between the ruling Georgian Dream coalition and the oppositional United National Movement is the main problem the country is facing, the authors of the report believe.
However political analyst Ramaz Sakvarelidze in an interview with the Free Georgia newspaper said that in the sphere of interior policy this confrontation is no so strong. According to the expert, the United National Movement is not even a real opposition, it's a party, whose reputation has been badly spoiled and which can be easyly manipulated.
His opinion is shared by another expert Soso Tsinstadze. According to him, the country is facing the lack of oppositional forces. Only former parliamentary speaker, leader of the Democratic Movement - United Georgia party Nino Burdzhanadze can to become an actual leader of the Georgian opposiion. If several small parties united under her leadership, she will be able to question the Georgian Dream's dominance an even come to power.
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Armenian newspaper New Times writes that the political situation in the country is going to change considerably. According to press secretary of the Republican pArty of Armenia Eduard Sharmazov, the coming constitutional refoirm will lead to a new political system, where the role of political parties will be much greater than the role of particular leaders. He notes however that the Republican Party will remain the most influential political force in the country.
According to leader of the Heritage party Stepan Safaryan, the statement was addressed not only to those, who woul like to come to power, but also to those, who want to return it, such as former president Robert Kocharyan. Safaran believes one should rather pay attention to the recent statement of Chairman of the Costitutional Court Gagik Arutyunyan, who said that the aim of the reform is to prevent "accidental people" to come to power. This means that a group of politicians has assumed the right to decide which people are "accidental" and which are not. "They are not even trying to hide the fact that the constituational reform is being held in their interests," he said.
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The tensions between the authorities and the opposition have increased in Abkhazia. According to the Republic of Abkhazia newspaper, representatives of the opposition, who are also members of the Coordination Council of Parties and Public Organizations, are demanding from President Alexander Ankvab to dismiss the government and appoint one of the council's members as the new prime minister. They are also demanding the resignation of the Prosecutor General and heads of three Eastern districts. if the president refuses to meet their demands, they are going to demand the president's resignation. The opposition wants to receive an answer by May 5. President Alexander Ankvab says he is ready for dialogue with all political forces, but believes that no ultimatum is aceptable.
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Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Zaman reports that that a joint EU-Azerbaijani project for social adaptation of physically disabled people has been held in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. Azerbaijani Ministr of Labour and Social Security Salim Muslimov says that Azerbaijan has over five hundred different programme aimed at integration of disabled people into the society. All these programmes will be improved in the nearest future, he says.
According to the minister, the process will take two years. The authorities are going to improve the legal basis of such progreamme and educate social workers. In addition to that, the authorities are also going to establish a constant monitoring of the situation surrounding the rights of disabled people. The project is supported by the French Ministry of Public Healthcare and German Ministry of Labour.
