Now is not the right time for opposition. They know they need to act quickly, but I think they don’t really have a plan. The government will take advantage of this. Political scientist Gia Khukhashvili explained this to “InterpressNews“, evaluating the measures taken by the opposition in order to protect votes.
Gia Khukhashvili says that on the one hand it is obvious that the opposition has a serious problem. This is because their abilities are limited when compared to the trust they have from the same people. It is difficult to come up with a plan in this situation.
“It is problematic because it is so easy to say, ‘Let us start a perpetual protest‘, but the second is how convincing your plans are because we in Georgia constantly create great hopes, only to be disappointed.” It is difficult to follow public opinion on this protest, because it often ends in nothing. This skepticism can be quite strong, particularly when there isn’t a concrete plan that will lead you to a result. Now is not the right time to work with the opposition. They know they have to act quickly, but I think they don’t really know what to do. Naturally, the government takes this advantage,” said Khukhashvili.
According to Khukhashvili however, many factors are affecting the current process.
“I think that the key will be, in the end how the international community looks at these elections. And to some extent, the government will take these steps. That is, if the government now starts to throw sticks, let’s call it “Russian law”, in the form of i have a strong suspicion that this topic already opens a certain area for doubt for them. They might give it up through the Constitutional Court. They may start to throw such blows to achieve some stabilization and soften public perception that the government has moved towards Russia. Moreover, more steps will be taken to soften the negative attitudes of the West and marginalize the opposition. Everything depends on the opposition’s ability to participate in this process.
Since the opposition did not accept the advice I gave them before the elections, I am tired. This only made the situation worse. They had the illusion that everything would work out, even if we got to the elections in the way they wanted. I knew from the start that there were serious risks involved, but it was not accepted. My impression is that the opposition’s ambitions in the pre-election campaign far exceeded their actual capabilities. I tried to increase their capabilities but they refused to accept it and faced reality. The opposition must understand that it’s in the best interest of the society to not damage the long-term development of the country,” said Khukhashvili.
Read More @ www.interpressnews.ge