IN ARMENIA CRISIS, GEORGIANS SEE ECHOES OF OWN POLITICAL TURMOIL
By Eter Tsotniashvili

The Messenger
March 3 2008
Georgia

As Georgians watched reports of Yerevan’s deadly March 1 crackdown on
opposition supporters, many saw similarities to Tbilisi’s own recent
political unrest.

Now Armenia’s streets are calm, the ongoing state of emergency there
marked only by armed soldiers and state-controlled newscasts, but
Georgians continue to muse over what many see as a crisis paralleling
politics here.

In Tbilisi, authorities also came down violently-but with non-lethal
force-on anti-government demonstrators on November 7. And Armenia’s
February 19 presidential election, Georgians widely remark, bore many
similarities to the January 5 presidential election here: accusations
of vote rigging; similar vote percentages for the winners and the
main opposition contenders; and opposition criticism of foreign
election observers.

Georgian authorities held up the OSCE verdict of an election which
was "in essence" democratic to counter claims of vote fraud, while
an OSCE observer team judged the Armenian election "mostly in line"
with democratic standards. In both cases, opposition leaders decried
the OSCE’s initial findings.

And in both Yerevan and Tbilisi, the elections were followed by
massive public protest, as tens of thousands turned out to demand a
recount or a runoff poll. But the post-election Georgian demonstrations
tapered off peacefully, in a contrast to the Armenian violence which,
hardliner opposition politicians warn, is far from a given.

"There was massive vote fraud [in Armenia] as there was here, and this
caused people to come into the streets in protest," Conservative MP
and opposition coalition member Zviad Dzidziguri said, warning that
Tbilisi could experience the same violence as Yerevan if the spring
parliamentary elections are seen as rigged.

Labor member Soso Shatberashvili said Georgian politicians should get
the credit for keep a lid on post-election demonstrations in Tbilisi.

"We have a better political culture; we opposition leaders always
appealed to our people to solve problems peacefully, and managed
to avoid some serious confrontations," Shatberashvili said, before
echoing Dzidziguri’s warning of possible clashes in Tbilisi after
the parliamentary elections.

Government officials acknowledge that Georgia faces the same dangers
as its neighbor.

"It was very hard for everyone to watch what was happening there [in
Yerevan]," Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze said. "Only God and
concrete steps taken in Georgia saved us from something similar. I
hope the Armenian people and the authorities overcome the crisis as
soon as possible."

Ethnic Armenians living in Tbilisi gathered in front of the European
Commission office last week to ask for more EU involvement in the
Armenian crisis.

"[In Yerevan], they cracked down on the rally not just with water
and gas but with real bullets, and because of this people died,"
said Mariam Mikoiani, head of the Georgian Armenian Union.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress