Georgia's Way

Georgia's Way is a political party in Georgia. It was registered on March 11 2006. The chairman of the party is former Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili, who was sacked by Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli in October 2005. The former French diplomat had participated in a series of disputes with members of Parliament and had been heavily criticized by a number of Georgian ambassadors.

The day after her sacking, Zourabichvili called on Georgians to gather in the thousands at the Tbilisi Hippodrome to express solidarity with her. Addressing the crowd the former Cabinet Minister said, "This is not a political gathering... this does not mean a call for revolution. Georgia has already undergone a revolution [the 2003 Rose Revolution] and this was the correct way; but unfortunately they [the authorities] have turned away from this road... People, who need democracy, who want a civilized European system, are here. Today, I will start a new life, together with you - for you and your children, calmly, as it should be in a civilized country."

Georgia's Way held its inaugural assembly on March 12, in front of roughly 2000 supporters gathered in the Tbilisi Philharmonic Hall. Zourabichvili said that Georgia currently faced two major threats: a return back to a pre-Rose Revolution period and, as she put it 'revolutionism'. MP Gia Tortladze became the chairman of the party’s political council, but has since resigned. Mr Tortladze is a member of the Democratic Front parliamentary faction, which unites MPs from the weaker opposition Republican Party and Conservative Party of Georgia groupings.

Policies

At present it is difficult to define the policies of Georgia's Way, which has largely stuck to pragmatic and constructive criticism of the government. Zourabichvili has been largely against protest rallies frequently organised by the less popular opposition parties such as the Georgian Labour Party. Speaking to Rustavi 2 television on July 11 the 54 year-old said, "People do not want to come out into the streets and they do not want revolutions and upheavals. People want democracy and people want a fair investigation of the Girgvliani murder case." 28-year-old Sandro Girgvliani, the head of the United Georgian Bank’s international relations department, became a high-profile murder case after a televised report indicated that several top-level officials from the Interior Ministry could have links to the crime. Also on 28th July, Zourabchivili became the only opposition leader to hail the Kodori Gorge operation which saw the government remove rebel warlord Emzar Kvitsiani from the territory. She went on to say that she "congratulate [d] the authorities on the decision to relocate the [exiled pro-Tbilisi] Abkhaz authorities to [the] Gorge."

In broad terms Ms Zourabchivili does appear to lean towards some form of liberalism. While addressing the March assembly of Georgia's Way, the opposition leader remarked, "We have to bring back Georgian values; the tolerance and solidarity that are we are losing today. We have to accept others’ opinions, because without the diversity of opinions it is impossible to build a state". In addition the group promised to base itself on the protection of private property and human rights, and the rule of law. The safeguarding of a free and responsible media is also one of the main views espoused by the movement.

Georgia's Way has said it intends to have candidates for all the seats in Georgia's upcoming local elections, with Zourabichvili hoping to become Tbilisi Mayor. However the party has rejected calls to form an alliance with the other opposition parties, saying that it rejected 'false alliances' and Koba Davitashvili's offer to withdraw from the race in favour of a unified candidate. Zourabichvili remarked in the 24 Saati (24 Hours) newspaper that "It was unimaginable for me to launch my political career by striking deals with those parties which have failed to secure the public's confidence… How is it possible to withdraw one's own candidacy in favor of a person whose ideas you do not even know and whose ideas you may not even agree with?"

Although party chairman Zourabichvili enjoys a high reputation in the country Georgia's Way has not been able to establish itself in the political field. At the city council elections in Tbilisi on October 5, 2006 only 2.77% of the constituency voted for the party. Six months before, an opinion poll conducted by the Georgian weekly "Kviris Palitra" suggested that Zourabichvili would garner 23.1% of the votes at presidential elections.

ee also

*Liberalism
*List of political parties in Georgia
*Politics of Georgia
*Rose Revolution
*Mikheil Saakashvili

External links

* [http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=11010/ Zourabichvili Gears Up for Politics ]
* [http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/zourabichvili1 Georgia on Europe’s Mind - Article Written By Zourabichvili On Need For European Assistance (March 2006)]