Do you think all political parties will have a fair chance to campaign ahead of the January 5 presidential election?
Wednesday, November 21
“I think so. With emergency rule lifted, the television stations can give the opposition coverage. I hope we won’t be seeing President Saakashvili on TV all the time until January 5.”
Vakho, student, 21
“People are fed up with Saakashvili’s constant speeches and silly statements. I certainly hope the opposition have a chance to campaign.”
Maiko, painter, 27
“In every civilized country the media is independent, but in our country it’s suppressed. Saakashvili tried to use emergency rule to further his PR campaign, and I think it was a poor choice. Now he must allow the opposition to put their message on the air. I think they’ll run a good campaign as long as they don’t face any restrictions.”
Levani, NGO worker, 34
“Yeah, I think they’ll all get a fair shot at the elections.”
Beka, doctor, 34
“We’ll see. Maybe they’ll be given time on public television, or maybe not. Maybe their placards will get torn down overnight. I can’t predict anything.”
Nino, teacher, 28
“It’s really difficult to talk about ‘fair’ here. Maybe on paper, everything is equal. The budget will probably allocate equal public funds for eligible political parties. But we all know there’s a lot more to this than pieces of paper. The National Movement gets to take credit for raising pensions, giving amnesty to petty criminals and all that.”
Niko, PR worker, 27
“Saakashvili has already launched his campaign without officially starting it. It goes without saying that the government will use all its resources—from siphoning off the state budget to ripping off businessmen—for the campaign.”
Nidera, pensioner, 68
Vakho, student, 21
“People are fed up with Saakashvili’s constant speeches and silly statements. I certainly hope the opposition have a chance to campaign.”
Maiko, painter, 27
“In every civilized country the media is independent, but in our country it’s suppressed. Saakashvili tried to use emergency rule to further his PR campaign, and I think it was a poor choice. Now he must allow the opposition to put their message on the air. I think they’ll run a good campaign as long as they don’t face any restrictions.”
Levani, NGO worker, 34
“Yeah, I think they’ll all get a fair shot at the elections.”
Beka, doctor, 34
“We’ll see. Maybe they’ll be given time on public television, or maybe not. Maybe their placards will get torn down overnight. I can’t predict anything.”
Nino, teacher, 28
“It’s really difficult to talk about ‘fair’ here. Maybe on paper, everything is equal. The budget will probably allocate equal public funds for eligible political parties. But we all know there’s a lot more to this than pieces of paper. The National Movement gets to take credit for raising pensions, giving amnesty to petty criminals and all that.”
Niko, PR worker, 27
“Saakashvili has already launched his campaign without officially starting it. It goes without saying that the government will use all its resources—from siphoning off the state budget to ripping off businessmen—for the campaign.”
Nidera, pensioner, 68