Lies & More Lies

OPED

Although summer is known as a dead season for politics, this pattern is not true for Georgian reality, since the most significant political cataclysms happen just this time of year. This year is no exception, especially since it is a pre-election period. Apparently, the main character of this season is to be Vladimer Bedukadze –as the inspirator of the “Broom Revolution” has become active again, though in a slightly different direction.

Last week the Public Broadcast aired the free political video ad of the political party Centrists Khachishvili – Bedukadze, which, together with its author, became the main political intrigue of the month. With Russian tanks and a portrait of Vladimir Putin in the background, Bedukadze promised to establish a pension of 400 GEL (equivalent to the current pension in Russia) for the Georgian population, to legalize the Russian military bases and double citizenship and to promote for new Russian military bases in Georgia. Naturally the United National Movement (UNM) grasped this chance and accused Georgian Dream of agitating the Kremlin politics and violating the law. Other oppositional parties jumped aboard and as a result the Public Broadcast took the video off the air, while the Central Election Committee canceled Bedukadze’s political party from electoral registration.

At a glance you might think the problem has been solved, but don’t rush. After the cancelation of electoral registration, Bedukadze announced another and even larger political scandal: “You are playing with fire! I will not stop and you can blame yourself for what happens next. You are traitors and enemies of our homeland, all of you! The only person whose position and opinion I will consider is Bidzina Ivanishvili. The only person whom I will ask for advice is His Holiness Patriarch Ilia II. The rest of you are worthless, washed away by the government of Saakashvili!” Bedukadze told agency Pirveli.

Nobody can predict what Bedukadze’s new “impromptu” might be, the only opinion spread over social networks is that the governmental party was exposed for playing the Bedukadze card before the elections again. “But this time Bedukadze has been made to look a dark power in light of which Georgian Dream seems a progressive one,” wrote Paata Davitaia, leader of the European Democrats party.

As time passes it becomes more and more obvious that on October 8th the population will have to make a choice between pro-Russian and pro-Western directions. And although all polls suggest that the number one problem is unemployment and jobs, it seems that the active political parties in Georgia have different issues on their agenda. Unlike the population, political parties regard the “issue of foreign political orientation” as the main one. While this does not mean that the political discourse is not important for ordinary voters, what matters here is that Georgian voters are already confident that everything is clear in this regard and that they do not have any basis to have doubts about anybody wanting to change it.

Because the Georgian “political class” has historically agreed: the country must become a member of NATO and the European Council. As usual, the politicians are lying to the electorate on this issue as well. Apart from Bedukadze, others also call to change the political orientation. The most important figure of these is the ex-Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze. Recently, the leader of the Democratic Movement has been repeating the term “blocless status,” meaning she promises her supporters that upon coming to power, Georgia will announce a blocless status and will try to balance the interests between West and Russia this way. In the case of Georgia, the chances of executing this narrative equals to zero, at the very least because our territories are occupied and while these are not recognized as independent, the UN Security Council won’t even consider our neutrality. “Blocless” means we no longer plan to become a member of the European Council and that we are cancelling the Association Agreement; that we are withdrawing our army from the NATO military programs and aren’t participating in any civilized processes regarding integration. This means that Burjanadze is lying and that this is just another option of a well-packaged Bedukadze’s political “impromptu.”

Last century, during the Communistic regime, we all knew that lies were guaranteed by law, so we were not angry when politicians lied to us. Why would we be? While freedom of speech was guaranteed constitutionally, the country spoke with the articles published in Pravda. It seems nothing has changed over the last 25 years and the Pravda articles have been substituted by pre-electoral promises. “Blocless Georgia” is as unimaginable as “Neutral Georgia”, so what can we do? Just put up with such promises, because lying is the ordinary, natural way of conduct for Georgian politicians, just as it is for many of us... and so we are living together from one lie to another, as we have been for 25 years already.

Zaza Jgarkava