By Vestnik Kavkaza
This week the Georgian press is focused on the process of the formation of a new government. Moreover, journalists are concerned about the situation in the spheres of the economy and education, the problem of corruption.
The hot topic of recent days in Georgia is formation of a new government. “All predictions on shifts in the government should be considered in one context: Irakli Garibashvili’s staff policy has failed and the resignation of Kipiani has been planned beforehand and the factor is used for another reason. The crisis is obvious, and some political forces skillfully use the confrontation. There are parties inside the coalition and outside it, which find Garibashvili unacceptable as a strong prime minister. It should be noted that the governmental activities deserve to be criticized heavily,” Kviris Palitra cites Mamuka Areshidze.
“Ivanishvili not always, but quite often participates in government activities. He is the one who controls the power and says the last word… Even though my colleagues don’t like this, I think this is not a tragedy, as the same picture can be seen in many countries of the world. The main question is where the processes will lead us. Unfortunately, I doubt there will be positive results of the process in Georgia. We can see that the majority of ministers and top officials are unable to make decisions, and there are serious problems with the national system. Speaking about the internal governmental confrontation, I mean problems between the President and the Premier, it has already become boring. Margvelashvili’s decision to delay presentation of a new government to the parliament is probably explained by the fact that nobody has consulted with him on the issue, including on an appointment of the new Defense Minister. We all know that tje President is the Supreme Commander,” Areshidze notes.
“The results of the population census turned upside down macroeconomic indices of Georgia. In the context of a reduction of the population, there will be more unemployed people in the country, but the GDP per capita will grow by $736. It will significantly change the international ratings. It turns out that all fundamental surveys by economists have been based on wrong statistical data,” Rezonansi reports.
“We can say that another promise by Georgian Dream ‘has been fulfilled’, and the government hasn’t done anything for this. The National Statistics Service counted that there are 3.73 million people in the country. If the preliminary data doesn’t change, it means the GDP per capita will grow by 20 percent – from $3680 to $4416,” the newspaper reports.
Journalists are still worried about the corruption problem. The former governor of Imereti, Zaza Meparishvili, spoke about corrupt schemes which he had faced and struggled against while managing the region.
“The project of reconstruction of the Sports Palace in Tkibuli required allocation of money to work which had already been done. To finish the reconstruction, it was necessary to repair the floor and walls, while the sum included absolutely all works. It was a precondition for the shady deal. I also paid attention to the project of reconstruction of a road in Zestafoni. The road was situated near an area which belonged to the Department of Corrections in Tskaltubo. In some parts, the road wasn’t covered by pebbles, even though money was allocated for that. When we demanded explanations, I was told that the pebble was taken away by water. So, I prevented the corrupt deal. That’s what some officials didn’t like and they blamed me,” Kviris Palitra cites the former governor.
The Georgian press is also worried about the situation in the education sphere, including problems with professional education, as many people doubt its effectiveness.
“For several years we have been hearing talks about the priority of professional education. Under Minister Lomaya, the West financed the establishment of infrastructure for professional colleges and holding various arrangements for high-qualitative education, including involvement of experts from the EU. Unfortunately, the Europeans know better about the importance of supporting professional education than we do. They spend millions on this, conduct surveys, listen to recommendations. However, it is unclear what politicians in our country think about the necessity of establishing such an education policy. According to the Constitution, education is a fundamental right of a person, i.e. the state should provide equal access to education; every citizen should have equal opportunities to get education, notwithstanding their family status, income, or geographical situation. Professional education means certain, practical skills and knowledge which a person either has or has not. There is no another estimation in this case,” Rezonansi reports.
“A professional educational which is oriented towards the results of education and based on real knowledge, is connected not only with development of the country, but also a person’s life, health, and future. There are some simple reasons for the importance of the sphere. Firstly, everybody knows that many foreign citizens work in infrastructural projects – from China or Turkey. There are several reasons for this. The main reason is a deficit of a professional labor force in our country. IRI has recently conducted a survey which says that there are still problems with water supply, roads, and transport in some regions of Georgia, i.e. it is necessary to improve infrastructure. Some would say that this is not connected with professional education, but it is not so. If the government launches infrastructural projects, the local population will have no opportunity to get a job, as they have no professional education. A labor force from abroad will be brought in again,” the author of the article concludes.
The situation in the media sphere is also discussed by journalists. “Today the media is not under totalitarian pressure like it was 5-7 years ago, but journalists have other problems. These are a deficit of professionalism, devotedness to ethical standards. The media is not oriented towards society, the development of social processes, and improvement of civil society. The press is oriented towards the interests of people who finance them,” Rezonansi cites a media expert Zviad Koridze.
“The media in Georgia is aimed at holding the population in an information vacuum, feeding it with stereotypes. An uninformed society which is full of stereotypes can easily be managed by political groups. The Georgian audience doesn’t trust the media. People have always treated the press skeptically, as the democratic institution is working not for democratization of society, but for the formation of a political agenda,” he thinks.
“Many journalists are not oriented towards spreading truthful information. Of course such media won’t enable Georgia to take a decent place in the Free Media Index. I say that a reader should be informed about the real sponsors of periodicals,” Koridze thinks.
