New challenge of opposition 8

After the failure of the attempted revolutionary changes the focus has switched to the so called opposition eight who claimed that change in the country should be implemented through the elections for which an appropriate environment should be created.

Before May 26 revolutionary oriented political forces and the opposition eight were acting very much divided. They were criticizing one another, claiming the merits of their respective methods. However the dispersal of the protesters on May 26 and the subsequent search for traces of Russian influence in the attempted revolution means that the revolutionary opposition will be dormant for now. Leader of New Rights David Gamkrelidze stated that recent events made it clear that there should be no revolution for changing leadership and that only elections should make it happen.

The election oriented parties repeat that there are no independent and free conditions in the country to hold fair elections. The opposition eight is trying to negotiate certain amendments in the elections code to improve the environment. However, the ruling authorities are quite satisfied with the present law and are in no rush to make any concessions. The opposition eight is particularly passionate about introducing biometric IDs for elections

Before the May 26 events the opposition eight was using possible revolutionary developments as an alternative to peaceful negotiations. But the situation today has changed radically. The supposed revolution is over and it has no chance to be repeated. Therefore the opposition eight no longer has this lever and it is unlikely that any similar possibility will emerge. Leaders of the opposition eight claim that after the recent dramatic developments there is no way to force through new conditions. “We have the same vision and same way but it is impossible to sit down and start negotiations right now,” Republican Party leader David Usupashvili said.

Leader of Free Democrats from opposition eight Irakli Alasania thinks that the political process will continue. The position of the opposition eight is understandable. They are confused and are pinning all their hopes on the western allies.

Independent analysts are sure that the elections environment needs to be amended. But it is unclear how the west would influence the process. Some analysts think that today the victorious administration is unlikely to sit back at the table of negotiations or, even if it does, it would never concede ground to the eight's proposed amendments. So the possible protest actions in case of manipulation of the elections will not start until after the next elections when suspicions of forgery and irregularities will no doubt arise again.