Since April, Georgia has seen a succession of exceptionally large rallies against the law on transparency of foreign influence, which is due to be enacted despite President Salome Zurabishvili's veto. In Tbilisi and the rest of the country, a young, lively, and determined crowd, rejecting party control and defying increasingly violent repression, proclaimed their European identity and their rejection of a future dictated by Russia. This vibrant desire for Europe, which cannot be ignored, poses an even greater challenge to European authorities given the uncertainty of its political expression.
For several decades, Georgian political life has been marked by protests that came along and even triggered changes in power. In 1992, a coup overthrew the first elected president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia; the "Rose Revolution" ousted his successor, Eduard Shevardnadze, in 2003; and large protests against Mikheil Saakashvili preceded the rise to power of Bidzina Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream party in 2012. Each time, a government brought to power by popular movements saw its initial strong popularity wane over the years, to the point of having to cede power to an opposition led by a providential figure – until it, too, became disconnected from society.
In Georgia, parties are ad hoc organizations centered around a personality: They are distinguished by their style and rhetoric, rather than their political orientation and even less by their policies. Non-governmental organizations are no strangers to the depoliticization of public debate because, while they undoubtedly constitute a counter-power, they have also been a key element in neoliberal policies.
Structural weakness of the political system
Today, by veering away from the European trajectory, adopting Putin's rhetoric and thus aligning the country with Russia, the Georgian Dream party has alienated a significant part of society, while the opposition remains fragmented and still lacks credibility. The current situation is not fundamentally different from previous cycles, except for the use of intimidation against opponents, which is unprecedented on this scale in decades and is even more concerning as the newly passed law seeks to bolster these repressive measures.
The central role played by major demonstrations in the country's history correlates with this structural weakness of the political system. Political dissent is organized around narratives forged in the streets through protests. Georgian Dream understood this well, organizing a well-controlled counter-demonstration on April 29, eerily reminiscent of Soviet-era rallies, and then taking over the Family Purity Day on May 17. As such, two different visions of the political body were visible in the public arena.
You have 50.89% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.