Senator Jeanne Shaheen about Georgia’s peaceful transition of power
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, January 8
The events of January 6 in Washington were unprecedented in modern American history. Supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol building, where they were to confirm the victory of President-elect Joe Biden at a joint congressional hearing. 4 people were killed. Cases of invasion of the Capitol were last recorded more than 200 years ago - in 1814 the British managed to penetrate there.
The US Congress has officially confirmed the votes cast by the Electoral College, according to which the next president will be Joe Biden (who received 306 votes, whilst Trump got 232), and the vice president - Kamala Harris. They will take office on January 20. After the official approval of Joe Biden's victory by the Congress, Donald Trump said that he would hand over power in accordance with the law.
"While I do not agree at all with the election results and the facts support it, January 20 will be a legitimate transfer of power." he said, noting that this decision means the end of "the most glorious first term" in the history of the presidency.
The joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate was adjourned after part of the pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol building.
It took the police several hours to evict them from the building and restore order. Lawmakers pulled them out of the building accompanied by security. A curfew was imposed and the National Guard was mobilized to quell the unrest in the capital.
The session was later resumed. Part of the Republican legislature tried to prevent Biden from winning. They protested against the votes cast by the Electoral College in several states. These include Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. In the case of Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, the procedure did not come up for debate. Debates were held in both houses of Congress over the votes of Georgia and Pennsylvania, although neither chamber supported the protest.
Some of the senators, who said they did not support Biden's certification of victory, changed their position after invading the Capitol building. Among them is Li
After the riots in the Capitol building in the US capital, Senator Jeanne Shaheen also spoke about Georgia during the renewed session of the Congress.
“What is happening today is not just a problem of the United States, it is also a problem of young democracies around the world. As Senator Romney said, they look at us as an example, we are a magnificent city on a hill. We hope for a better future for those who cope with oppression.” She said.
Speaking about the importance of a peaceful transfer of power, Shaheen cited the example of Georgia in 2012, recalling that on the second day of the election, after meeting with him, President Saakashvili decided that there should be a peaceful transfer of power in Georgia.
“Chamber, I’ve traveled to developing democracies around the world, to Afghanistan and Iraq to the Western Balkans, to Africa, to the Country of Georgia. I went there with my colleague, Senator Risch in 2012. We went to Georgia to observe officially on behalf of the Senate the election between outgoing President Mikhail Saakashvili and the ruling party United National Movement and opposition party Georgian Dream. The party was newly formed, supported and funded by billionaire Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili.” she said. Senator underscored that this battle was for the parliament as well as for control of the government; she visited multiple polling places on election day with Senator Risch and agreed with the international assessment that the election was free and fair and that Georgian Dream was the winner. However, there was a real concern in the country, that Saakashvili would refuse to give up the power and that would end up with violence.
“The day after the election, Senator Risch and I visited the President at home. We sat down with him and we pointed out that the hallmark of a democracy, for what he worked so hard in his 8 years as a President of Georgia would be to give the power peacefully to those, who were elected by the voters” Shaheen remembered, emphasizing that the President listened to senators and left the office peacefully - ‘The future generation must recognize that democracy means the peaceful transition of power’.
