With January 5 presidential poll, a referendum on NATO membership
By Ani Sulakvelidze
Wednesday, November 28
When Georgian voters go to the polls on January 5, they will be asked not only whether to reelect incumbent Mikheil Saakashvili to another term as president, but also whether they want the country to join NATO, a spokesperson for the president’s office said on November 26.
NATO accession is one of this government’s most touted policy priorities. Saakashvili, who stepped down from the presidency on Sunday to allow the snap election to go forward, claims he is the best candidate to steer Georgia into NATO membership.
Foreign Affairs Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, speaking to journalists the next day, said that the issue would come up for vote to prove the will of the people.
“Most Georgians are in favor of joining NATO,” he said. “We know this, but to confirm it officially this issue is being taken to a plebiscite.”
The plebiscite—a non-binding referendum in Georgian law—on NATO accession will be held on January 5 together with the presidential election and a plebiscite on whether parliamentary elections should be scheduled for earlier in 2008.
Tbilisi has been looking ahead anxiously to the next NATO summit, which will take place in Bucharest in April 2008. The Saakashvili administration, which made integration into Euro-Atlantic structures a top policy priority, maintains that a formal invitation to membership is a very real possibility at Bucharest.
In a visit in early October, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised the extent of Georgia’s reforms since the 2003 Rose Revolution, but warned that his organization is concerned about the independence of the country’s judiciary and would be watching the next elections very closely.
Those closely watched next elections are now being held far sooner than anticipated. Saakashvili announced a snap presidential election on November 8, a day after Georgia fell into crisis as his government violently dispersed protestors in the capital.
In a strongly-worded statement that same day, de Hoop Scheffer said the government’s crackdown on demonstrators and subsequent declaration of emergency rule were “not in line with Euro-Atlantic values.”
But some backers of Georgia’s accession bid, including Washington, say that Tbilisi can remain on-track for membership if the January 5 elections are free and fair.
NATO accession is one of this government’s most touted policy priorities. Saakashvili, who stepped down from the presidency on Sunday to allow the snap election to go forward, claims he is the best candidate to steer Georgia into NATO membership.
Foreign Affairs Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, speaking to journalists the next day, said that the issue would come up for vote to prove the will of the people.
“Most Georgians are in favor of joining NATO,” he said. “We know this, but to confirm it officially this issue is being taken to a plebiscite.”
The plebiscite—a non-binding referendum in Georgian law—on NATO accession will be held on January 5 together with the presidential election and a plebiscite on whether parliamentary elections should be scheduled for earlier in 2008.
Tbilisi has been looking ahead anxiously to the next NATO summit, which will take place in Bucharest in April 2008. The Saakashvili administration, which made integration into Euro-Atlantic structures a top policy priority, maintains that a formal invitation to membership is a very real possibility at Bucharest.
In a visit in early October, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer praised the extent of Georgia’s reforms since the 2003 Rose Revolution, but warned that his organization is concerned about the independence of the country’s judiciary and would be watching the next elections very closely.
Those closely watched next elections are now being held far sooner than anticipated. Saakashvili announced a snap presidential election on November 8, a day after Georgia fell into crisis as his government violently dispersed protestors in the capital.
In a strongly-worded statement that same day, de Hoop Scheffer said the government’s crackdown on demonstrators and subsequent declaration of emergency rule were “not in line with Euro-Atlantic values.”
But some backers of Georgia’s accession bid, including Washington, say that Tbilisi can remain on-track for membership if the January 5 elections are free and fair.