How to build democracy when people starve?

When it comes to Georgian politics, analysts frequently speak about the increase of tension among different political parties in the country that causes polarization and a growth of aggression from the public.

However, an increase of irritation amongst Georgians is mainly related to economic hardships and a rough devaluation of the national currency against the dollar.

The Georgian political spectrum has never been unanimous.

There have always been rival political teams that have done their utmost to discredit one another.

Currently we have the supporters of the Georgian Dream leadership and the former ruling party, the United National Movement (UNM), as well as the people striving towards the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration or those demanding a return to a Russia-oriented path.

The fact is that the supporters of the current and previous governments are too aggressive to each other and if the situation continues, the result might well be regrettable.

The current authorities have been trying (and succeeding) to send the previous state leaders to prison; the imprisonment of the former President Mikheil Saakashvili would be a crowning moment for them. However, his extradition from Ukraine since Saakashvili was granted the citizenship of the country has now become impossible.

For his part, Saakashvili stresses that the main reason of the country’s economic downfall is former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Saakashvili claims that Ivanishvili’s activities are based on hatred and envy of the former officials and many big projects launched under the previous government have been suspended because of Ivanishvili’s demands.

“He is dull and suffers from the complex of an untalented man,” Saakashvili assures.

Saakashvili also accuses Ivanishvili of nepotism and appropriating public money. He states that when the UNM regains its power, the only man that will be accountable for his activities will be Ivanishvili.

Deputy Minister in Diaspora issues, Sandro Bregvadze, commented on Saakashvili’s statements. He stressed that there might be problems in domestic affairs, but blaming Ivanishvili for living at the expense of Georgians is an immoral claim.

Analyst Nodar Kharshiladze believes that both the current and former authorities had wrong policies.

He stresses that the former leadership spent huge money on infrastructural and defense related projects that was not reflected on the welfare of ordinary citizens, while the current leaders make no investment in such projects and allocate much money for social issues like free healthcare only.

“Spending money on healthcare is good. However, we should try to keep a balance. The taking of high bonuses by government officials is also immoral in the current hard economic situation.



“Until people no longer have to live in poor conditions there will be aggression in politics. When people have no income they are more disposed to radicalism. It’s very hard to build a democratic state when people starve in your country,” the analyst suggests.

According to public surveys people can see no favorite political force in the current political spectrum. Increasing dissatisfaction by the politicians might become a source of undesirable developments in the country.