One of the most talked-about events of recent days in Georgia was the nomination of Nino Gvenetadze for the presidency of the Supreme Court.
"After nearly two months of debate the president named the candidate for the chairman of the Supreme Court , who became Nino Gvenetadze. But whether Parliament will support the President's favorite, will be announced in the coming days, after internal consultations within the ruling team. In the meantime, the general mood is positive. The candidacy of Gvenetadze is criticized only by the United National Movement. For the approval of her candidacy there must be at least 76 votes of the members. The term of office of the Chairman of the Supreme Court, Kote Kublashvili, expires on 23 February. Basically, managerial skills, freedom from party influence and professionalism are the qualities, skills and criteria for which the president picked the candidacy of Nino Gvenetadze. Now the turn of the legislature, where the decision presumably will be made in upcoming days, after consultations," says Resonance. The publication notes that MPs from the ruling coalition are favorably disposed towards the potential chairwoman of the main court of the country.
Controversies between the leaders of the ruling coalition and the Republican Party do not cease to interest the media. This time they emerged after criticism from ex-premier Ivanishvili of his partners in connection with "the cables’ case", which led in November last year to the resignation of Defense Minister Irakli Alasania.
"We have repeatedly said that the key issues in the relationship with the coalition needs to be corrected. Today, we are actually trying to be united on fundamental issues. But there are issues on which our positions do not coincide. So for the moment we have not assessed the course. When we are decided, then we will decide what to do. If we need to withdraw from the coalition, we will leave, and if not, then we will let you know about that. How long we will decide, I do not know, but I do not think that this interview will serve as the basis for this," Resonance quotes the words of one of the party members, David Zurabishvili.
Irakli Alasania’s name is mentioned in the press and in connection with suspicions of impending mass dismissals of employees of the Ministry of Defense, who took their positions in the period of his leadership of that office.
"Over the past few years in your department profound changes have not been made, the preservation and improvement of the official staff of former ministers Kezerashvili, Akhalaia and another ministers took place. As the head of the ministry, you have begun to change that. This is what caused such aggression on the part of the Nationals and former members of our coalition," Resonance cites the words of the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, addressed to the Minister of Defence Mindy Dzhanelidze.
The opposition and political analysts say that it is obvious that a large purge will begin soon. They fear that the victims of the clear-out will be a lot of professionals who will be punished just for being associated with the group of Alasania. In their place will arrive people loyal to the authority structures of Garibashvili," the newspaper writes in connection with this.
Among those who were seriously concerned by the words of the premiere was a deputy of the Free Democrats, Nino Goguadze. "People should not be judged by someone in the team they belong to, but according t their professionalism. To various positions people are appointed on criteria of personal loyalty and obedience rather than professionalism. It is destroying our country," the newspaper quotes her words.
At the same time, there are calls for other clear-outs. "After the 2012 elections the endless process of coexistence has begun. The National Movement is very effective at using this time, especially since President Saakashvili had remained, and they began to distribute their people to various structures. They hooked people whom they knew, godchildren, godparents, the old principle of cooperation, the method of compromising. As a result, they have ensured that most of their people were left in the system. It was an organized campaign. Despite the fact that today the clearing of implemented persons has begun, many of these people retain their positions. When people see that those who clocked them at rallies, arrested and tortured them, again remain in their posts, and they themselves again cannot find jobs, these people are losing faith in the government. This is very bad. It is better for the authorities to wake up and take those steps which are awaited by people," Alia quotes the words of expert Mamuka Areshidze.
He did not rule out that the situation in the country could lead to the most far-reaching consequences. "Early elections and the resignation of the government, both these issues are on the agenda. Logic demands change. Everything that happens in terms of economics is very difficult for the country – jobs are not being created, there is a devaluation of the GEL, the government doesn't have the consolidation needed in order to cope with the challenges. I do not see the government coping with these challenges. I think the expected changes in the government - it can retire not completely, but there are incremental changes in the composition. As for the elections, we do not see a political force, which in the case of new elections can awaken hope in the people. The most organized force again is the National Movement. As far as I know, several members of Georgian Dream were instructed to visit the regions and observe the situation - in some regions offices not only closed, but never even existed at all. What kind of early elections can be discussed?" asked the expert.
One of the recurring themes in the pages of the Georgian media is the severe socio-economic situation in the country. "Georgia's population is wallowing in debt”. This is evidenced by the results of a poll conducted on the web page of Resonance, according to which, over the year debts rose of 74% of the respondents, for whom 32.8% the debts rose dramatically.
"Over the last year, the amount of delinquent loans increased by almost 9% and the number of entries in the register of debtors over the past three months has increased by 6,000. This means that people do not have enough money, and they take it from a bank or other lenders. According to economists, while the country does not create jobs, the lari falls and the economy does not grow, the threat that the number of debtors will increase even more and worsen the social background, really exists. The difficult social background in the country is deteriorating further. The fact that people often take on money debts is confirmed by the survey. To the question of whether debt has increased over the past year in your family - 32.8% responded that "increased dramatically", 41% said "increased". Debts of 5.4% of respondents in the past year did not increase, i.e. remained the same. 16.4% of respondents said that last year the debts of their families "greatly diminished," says Resonance.
"As can be seen from the results of the survey, the absolute majority of the Georgian population remains in debt. Over the last year the amount of non-performing loans has increased dramatically. According to official statistics of the National Bank of Georgia, on January 1st 2015 the volume of overdue loans amounted to 251.654 million GEL, which is approximately 9% higher than the similar data last year. On January 1st 2014 the volume of overdue loans amounted to 231,077,000 GEL. The insolvency of the population is evidenced by an entry in the registry of debtors. As of November 2014, only 132 thousand individuals and legal entities have been registered with it. After three months their amount was 138,672 people. As you know, all individuals and legal persons go in a single database of debtors. After the execution of the judgment, the Bureau gives the debtor only 7 days to cover the debt, otherwise it seizes his movable and immovable property," the newspaper said.
Georgian journalists also paid attention to a subject which was on the front pages of all the world's media - the Minsk talks between the presidents of Russia, France and Ukraine and the German Chancellor. "For Ukraine, there is no comforting news. Ukraine was able to get only what the West can give, and nothing more. We have seen, if not a full, then a partial surrender of the West to Russia," Resonance quotes the words of political analyst Soso Tsintsadze.
"Putin won when he was able to annexe Crimea. Let's see what decision the Americans will now take - whether Barack Obama will deliver weapons to Ukraine. He is playing for time - he says he is ready to deliver the weapon, but the decision has not yet been made. Now he can use it as an excuse and say that the parties have agreed to a ceasefire, and there is no need for weapons. Europe will take advantage of this opportunity to cancel or reduce sanctions in March. It turns out that Putin won. If the separatists take Debaltseve, the conflict will be frozen. Then Putin will say that in Ukraine constitutional changes are necessary, decentralization, federalization - this process will be stretched and Europe "will wash its hands," the analyst says.
