Jordan Brickman
April 24, 2009
Professor Duffy
Polisci
Georgia- A Country in Turmoil
Georgia, no not the American state, is a country in turmoil. The country’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, is in the middle of his second term as president, and Georgia’s countrymen are trying to make sure that Saakashvili does not finish his term. The Georgian native has been under pressure by multiple groups recently, and has been called such strong words as “tyrant” and described as an “obstinate child” by the Georgian people. However, before we look into Saakashvili’s miscues we must take a look at what Georgia, as a country, is made of.
Georgia is made up of 4.6 million people ("Georgia"), a relatively small country, particularly when compared with the world’s superpowers. Of those 4.6 million people roughly 52% of them are female, and the females live for about 80.45 years, compared to the male’s 73.41 years ("Georgia"). Nearly 84% of the citizens in Georgia are Georgian, and 84% of the population is Orthodox Christian. The Gross Domestic Product, which measures the size of the economy, is roughly 21.6 billion, and about $3,365 per capita ("Georgia"). These figures are good for a country the size of Georgia, so why are the Georgian citizens calling for their president’s head?
First we must look at how the Georgian government is set up, and the powers of Saakashvili. The Georgian government is a republic, and headed by the United National Movement party. In the last election, held in May 59.2% of the votes went to the United National Movement, and the closest political party was the National Council-New Rights which got 17.7% of the votes (“Georgia”). Clearly the United National Movement, led by Saakashvili is the main political party in Georgia. Georgia’s political system works similarly to America’s. Elections are held every five years, there is an executive branch, a unicameral legislative branch, and a judicial branch which is all very similar to the United States’ system, with the exception of the unicameral legislative branch (“Georgia”). The president is the chief of state as well as the head of government (“Georgia”).
In short, Georgian government is very similar to America’s, so when the president is under suspicion it is a big deal for the country. Saakashvili won the popular vote easily, no competitor (Levan Gachechiladze was 27.8% behind Saakashvili) was even close to him after one term, and the citizens of Georgia trusted him greatly. However, in politics one mistake (or multiple mistakes) can have an entire country calling for your head. Right now Saakashvili is under attack for three different reasons. As recent as this past Wednesday (April 22nd) there has been protests of thousands of people asking for President Saakashvili to step down. The protests have been going on since April 9th, and the ringleaders promise to keep protesting until Saakashvili steps down. The citizens of Georgia complain that Saakashvili is guilty of using his power for his own benefit and mishandling a war with Russia that took place eight months ago, which dealt heavy damages and losses of territory (Associated Press).
Describing Saakashvili, Levan Gachechiladze, one of the top opposition figures and runner up for president, “Saakashvili reminds me of an obstinate child who thinks that this country is his plaything. But he forgets that obstinate children are punished — and this will happen very soon (Associated Press).” Nearly 60,000 people have shown up to these protests which is about 1.5% of Georgia’s population. If the United States had a protest of the same size, relatively, there would be more than three million people at the protest, three times as many people as President Obama’s inauguration. Clearly Georgian people are against their leader.
Another revolt against Saakashvili is, ironically, with females already behind bars. On the Orthodox Easter between 300 and 400 prisoners were released from prison thanks to orders from Saakashvili. However, of those 300-400 prisoners only 23 of them were women ("Georgian female inmates"). This set off a protest by females located at Prison No.5 in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, but the prisoners have since been moved to Prison No.1 in Rustavi. This is not the first time a group of imprisoned females have rebelled against the government. Last year, the all-female penal colony went on a hunger strike demanding improved incarceration conditions and a review of several cases. However, their strike did not work, as none of their demands were reportedly met ("Georgian female inmates").
Another controversy that has not helped Saakashvili’s image is his relationship with a very famous masseuse. DrDot, an American masseuse who is famous for using the unique technique of biting with her clients, has been massaging Saakashvili recently (Mackey). DrDot, an attractive, busty woman, has blogged extensively about her massaging experience with the Georgian president, making people believe that Saakashvili’s relationship with DrDot is more than just professional. With their country recovering from war the citizens do not want Saakashvili focusing on anything other than fixing their country. In addition, this has not helped Saakashvili’s reputation as using his power for luxuries, as this type of massage is a luxury meant for rock-stars. Such celebrities as Rolling Stones, Sting, Mariah Carey, Russel Crowe, Jay-Z, Bruce Willis, and Ice T have used DrDot (Mackey).
This situation has been getting worldwide news. It has been written about in the New York Times, as well as reports have surfaced on youtube.com from neighboring nation Russia, which is seemingly mocking Saakashvili for indulging in such an odd relaxing technique. DrDot has defended herself and her “favorite client” says the New York Times, “She also added that there was nothing illicit about the massages she had given Mr. Saakashvili: ‘I don’t shag my clients — I didn’t even bite him (Mackey).’” Regardless of what kind of massage was given, protestors copied the picture of Saakashvili and DrDot and put a large question mark over the picture and posted posters all over Georgian walls in the capital Tbilisi.
The protests of Saakashvili have gone onto television even forming new programming meant to simply protest the president. Giorgi Gachechiladze, a well-known singer, has locked himself inside a fake jail cell until Saakashvili resigns from his presidency (Levy). Gachedchiladze has even gotten his own television show called “Cell No. 5” which has helped turn him into an influential oppositional figure. Gachedchiladze has been in his cell, the size of a studio apartment, since January 20th, leaving only once to perform a concert. Says the New York Times article by Clifford J. Levy, ‘“Cell No. 5’ is named after the ballot spot of Mr. Saakashvili’s political party, the implication being that the country is a prisoner of the president. Mr. Gachechiladze contends that Mr. Saakashvili is dictatorial, mismanages the government, allows corruption to flourish and involved Georgia in a senseless war (Levy).” Gachedchiladze has had a strong impact on how people view Saakashvili, and when asked how long he will stay in his cell he responds “As long as it takes to get rid of this government (Levy).”
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Saakashvili, once a strong leader in Georgia has shrunk into a shell of his former self. Getting bashed at rallies, television in his own country as well as throughout the world, and revolts in jails are just some of the things that Saakashvili has to deal with on a daily basis. It is certainly not easy to manage an entire country, no matter the size, with thousands of people calling for your head. In fact, I’m tired just thinking about it. Ugh, I need a massage.
