Former Diplomat Hopes Era of Messiahs Soon to End in Georgia
Most of the international observers claim that the October 8, 2016 Georgian parliamentary elections were free and fair. Because none of the parties managed to get 51 percent of the votes, there will be a run-up election in coming weeks.
Director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, Luke Coffey, says that all parties involved in the elections should realize that the election is a process, not a single event. “It is really important that all parties involved in the electoral process remain committed to a free, fair, safe and open process which allows all sides to contest these run-up elections freely and fairly,” he told VOA Georgia. “By all accounts, it was a success, but it is not over yet,” said Coffey, adding, “There is potential that there could be some local tensions rising that could put in jeopardy the upcoming run-up elections.”
While successful and peaceful elections were a step forward for Georgian democracy, Coffey believes it would also position Georgia more advantageously with NATO. “For so long NATO has been divided internally about how to approach Georgia and how to integrate Georgia into the Alliance. Part of this compromise in my opinion has been to insert language in every NATO Summit declaration saying that progress towards NATO would depend on an upcoming election,” said Coffey.
By conducting the October 8 elections in a free and fair manner, Georgia demonstrated to the West that its democracy is advancing. “After a country has so many free and fair elections, at what point does it seem odd - if not unnecessary - to keep mentioning it in the summit declarations. If anything, I think it is disrespectful to the Georgian people, who have participated and voted in the selections.”
Two of the most western-oriented parties in Georgia - Free Democrats and the Republican Party - could not overcome the five percent threshold necessary to gain seats in the parliament. Some in Georgia, as well as in the West, think that this would be a setback for Georgia’s western orientation. Coffey disagrees. “It is unfortunate because they are such strong supporters of the West, but there are also many others. It is not only about the Georgian government wanting to be westward looking. The Georgian people, country’s institutions, non-governmental organizations, the business community, civil society – the country as a whole - wants to look fowards, and I think this will continue,” Coffey said.
Kenneth Yalowitz, former US Ambassador to Georgia, agrees that Georgia will stay committed to its western aspirations regardless of the parties in parliament. “I do not think it is a setback, but I regret it. I would have liked to have seen these two parties explicitly in parliament, but I think te trajectory of Georgia is clear and this election confirmed it,” stated Ambassador Yalowitz.
While praising the elections as democratic, the former diplomat spoke about a challenge which seems to be identical for two of the major parties in the country. “Georgia has a very effective Prime Minister and a good President - both of whom I know and respect a great deal. I would like to see us move past what I call ‘messiahs;’ two larger-than-life figures who are off stage, but whose presence is still very much felt,” said Yalowitz.
He went on to express hope that one day Georgia will “move to a system of orderly, transparent, regular governance, in which people who are elected do their jobs, and are not looking over their shoulder for guidance from somewhere else. I think it is very important that people who were leaders in the past move to the side. We do this in the United States all the time. We have elections, those who lose move on and go off into the sunset and do something else. That is what I would like to see in Georgia. I would like to see the Georgian Dream government and its leadership really take full responsibility and implement the economic and political reforms that are necessary and move forward,” Ambassador Yalowitz concluded.
Ia Meurmishvili, Voice of America, Georgian Service