A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Coup
Georgia Sunday 29 December 2024
At ten a.m. on Sunday morning, the Presidency of Georgia passed from Salomé Zourabichvili to Mikheil Kavelashvili, the first an international diplomat, the second a former footballer and member of the Georgian Dream party.
As late as Saturday evening, now former president Zourabichvili refused to leave the presidential palace in the capital, Tbilisi. Claiming the October 26 election was rigged on Georgian Dream’s behalf, Zourabichvili declared she was the legitimate president. By Sunday morning she’d changed her mind. “I will come out of here, come out to you and be with you... This presidential residence was a symbol as long as there was a president here who was legitimate. I bring legitimacy with me,” she said before stepping into a departing limousine. She had earlier commented that “A Russian election was held.”
The mood in the capital was tense, with demonstrators facing off against riot police on successive evenings, followed by large gatherings around the country Sunday after the new President was sworn in. Earlier this month, the ruling party put EU talks on hold, spurring further protests.
Ascension to the EU for the mountainous country on the Black Sea between Russia and Turkey was proposed in November last year. Public response was initially positive but the process has since become contentious, with some protesting the undue influence of Civil Society groups in the country. In April, new laws took effect compelling NGOs and media companies to disclose sources of foreign funding. Critics have labelled these laws proof of behind the scenes Russian meddling.
More To The Story ?
The above reads like a short dispatch you see on-line or in a Western newspaper, written in London or Paris a thousand miles from the trouble spot.
Certain anomalies leap out at the disinterested observer. First, a map. Is Georgia in Europe ? I mean really, now, suddenly ? Bit of a stretch. The multi-ethnic region is frequently referred to as the Caucasus, the Black Sea region, Asia Minor.
The country shares borders with seven members of the Russian Federation. That should ring some bells. A devastating war with no end in sight is taking place not far away, on another border with Russia.
Not about the distance, some reply. The EU is an idea, a set of values, an administrative / jurisprudent alliance of states. And polls indicated that, yes, the people thought Georgia’s ascension to the EU was a good idea. It’s part of the ruling Georgian Dream’s platform, too. The EU would mean money and maybe, less emigration overall.
500 election observers, with delegations from the EU Parliament, the Council of Europe and NATO, took part in the October election. While citing minor irregularities at voting stations and criticizing Georgian Dream for creating a ‘polarized environment,’ they declared the election legitimate.
Could Georgians be having second thoughts ? They had almost a year to think about it. Zourabichvili has yet to present documentation for her charges of voter fraud, which center on the wipeout her Charter group suffered in Georgia’s rural regions.
Georgia has experienced a year of intense public disturbances with pro-EU demonstrations in Tbilisi. Worth pointing out that many protestors carry signs in English, which look good on the news, and when spoken to in Georgian, don’t answer, which gives you pause. The presence of some 24,000 young NGO workers, many of them foreigners, in Georgia, affiliated with the Soros Open Society Foundation and other influential, non-state actors is proof of the interest tiny, mountainous Georgia provokes in the West.
The now ex-president’s family fled to France in the 1920s when the Soviets took over. Madame Z is a former student of Zbigniew Brzezinski, as well as a French diplomat, first secretary of the French embassy in the U.S., first secretary at the permanent mission of France to NATO, former Director of Int’l and Strategic Affairs at the French Secretariat for National Defense, former French ambassador to Georgia. She became a naturalized citizen in 2004. That’s a fair few fly-overs for a busy diplo. I suspect she’ll be on 60 Minutes shortly explaining the whole affair.
The Georgian Color Revolution failed this time. 24,000 foot soldiers is more than enough to pull off a coup. Who is trying to provoke whom ? Somewhere in one of the European capitals an official pulled the plug and left Zourabichvili dangling. Maybe the prospect of a night in jail didn’t sit well with the posh president. Cynics count the days before she jets off for Paris. Meanwhile, we know next to nothing about the ruling party’s plans for the country. They are conservative, called Far-Right by some, even if no one has any idea what that means. Georgia is in a vice, with NATO on one side and Russia pressing on the other.
Demonstrators formed ‘Democracy Chains’ in cities throughout Georgia yesterday. Zourabichvili’s Charter group still has yet to deliver proof – any tangible proof at all – the election was stolen. They repeat the charge as if it were fact.
And so ?
Was the election lost because Georgians reflected on what happened to Ukraine when the EU and NATO were dangled in their faces like magic talismens ? Georgians, after all, have to live with Russia as their neighbor. In the meantime, Western audiences are encouraged to see Russian skulldudgery behind the scenes.
Would the EU accept Georgia if it ditched its democratically elected President ? There is some precedence for this. In France, Macron had no majority after the July elections but ignored the results. In Romania, presidential elections in November were called off because the wrong candidate looked set to win. The EU threatened to sanction Georgia if Zourabichvili didn’t remain in power. Will they go ahead with that and how will the announcement read, I wonder ? Much of this affair reads like a product of the latest Doublethink blender: here you are, sir, makes absolutely no sense but as long as you don’t look too closely, everything’s running smoothly. Drink up !
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