FEATURES OF GEORGIAN POLITICS

There is another round of escalation of internal political struggle in Georgia. This time, it was provoked by the fall of the Georgian currency (lari), which began at the end of last year.

President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili convened an extraordinary session of Parliament to be held on 13 March in order to discuss the current economic situation, though a little earlier, in late February, he had refused to convene an extraordinary session of Parliament at the request of the opposition. The reason for such an action was the promise of the Cabinet of Ministers to submit a national currency stabilization plan by 5 March. However, this did not happen, even after Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs George Abashishvili again urged ministers on behalf of the President to fulfil this promise.

And now, the president's initiative to hold an extraordinary session of Parliament, which was also imposed on him by the opposition, has failed. The reason is very simple: the absence of a quorum as representatives of the parliamentary majority faction Georgian Dream refused to attend the session. Government officials heading various economic departments also refused to participate in the scheduled meeting of the legislature. As a result, members of the opposition minority remained in splendid solitude in parliament, which did not allow them to stigmatize the government.

Meanwhile, the entire picture testifies to a new government crisis in Georgia caused by the opposition's accusations levelled at the leadership of the country due to "wrong economic policies". At the same time, serious contradictions within the ruling camp are also coming to the surface. Such a blatant disregard on the part of the parliamentary majority for the president's decision to hold an extraordinary parliamentary session already speaks volumes of the current situation. This only confirms the validity of rumours, which are gaining momentum, about serious disagreements between President Georgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

Another telling example of the conflict inside the Cabinet: head of the National Bank of Georgia Giorgi Kadagidze criticized the government for "ignoring warnings about erratic expenditure". The Cabinet, in turn, promised that it would cope with the currency crisis soon. However, only time will tell whether the measures taken to stabilize the exchange rate of the lari - accelerated privatization of state properties, reduction of administrative costs and the adoption of laws conducive to business - would lead to the desired result. In the meantime, it is clear that Garibashvili's government is faced with a serious challenge that threatens its further functioning.

In response to the actions of the critics, the Prime Minister said that he was not interested in the convening of an extraordinary session of Parliament since "it is necessary to do real work, not a show". However, many experts admit that Parliament may raise the question of resignation of Garibashvili and his Cabinet. In their view, this is indicated by certain unrest in the ranks of the ruling Georgian Dream. The purpose of those disaffected within the government camp is to place the responsibility for the deterioration of the socio-economic situation in the country, accompanied by a fall in the rating of the ruling force, on Premiere Garibashvili alone.

Nonetheless, the government has every chance to survive because, as recognized by Georgian experts and politicians, its fate will depend not so much on the views of specific parliamentarian groups as on the will of Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire and the de facto leader of the Georgian Dream. Ivanishvili is apparently not disposed to wreck the Cabinet, as indirectly evidenced by his accusation of head of the National Bank Giorgi Kadagidze of "inaction that led to the depreciation of the lari".

However, a confrontation between the Ivanishvili-backed government, on the one hand, and the head of the National Bank, on the other hand, is affected by the fact that Kadagidze was appointed to this post at a time when the country's helm was in the hands of the United National Movement (UNM) party founded by ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili. The following statement by Ivanishvili is worth noting: "Recent developments clearly show that we are faced with speculative transactions and a stir instigated by members of the National Movement and their 'experts'. The monetary policy is determined by the National Bank".

This most convincingly proves that the leaders of the Georgian Dream, and first of all Bidzina Ivanishvili, are not interested in a change of government as this opportunity may be seized by the opponents of the ruling force. While the Georgian Dream wields enough votes in Parliament to remove Prime Minister Garibashvili from office and replace him with another man, who is "one of their own", there is a reason to believe that such a move will not be made as it can result in loosening of the position of the Georgian Dream, which is totally unacceptable under conditions where the opposition, particularly the supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, is becoming active.

The oppositionist UNM is really mounting pressure on the country's authorities. Generally speaking, it is a strict requirement of Saakashvili's supporters to convene an extraordinary session of Parliament to discuss the economic situation that has forced President Georgi Margvelashvili to make an abortive attempt to convene the legislators. The UNM's intensified activity has also to do with the fact that this party is most effective in expressing the interests of the West, primarily of the United States, in the Georgian political space.

Apparently, Saakashvili's supporters are going to embark on a course of popular protest actions. In any case, they have already announced the holding of a demonstration in downtown Tbilisi on 21 March.

It is noteworthy that at the time when a number of iconic figures of the era of Saakashvili's rule, including Saakashvili himself, act as principal advisers to the Ukrainian authorities and purveyors of a neoliberal course in the country of the winning Maidan, back in Georgia, the party of the ex-president - undoubtedly, with the support of Western political circles - is preparing to launch a Maidan in Tbilisi. This, however, does not deny the pro-Western orientation of the government formed by the Georgian Dream, but merely points to the fact that it is in the interests of the United States to maintain the UNM as a real tool of pressure on moderate, and therefore not always sufficiently ardent Georgian supporters of the EU and NATO among Ivanishvili's followers. This tool will undoubtedly be very useful in the next year too, when Georgia will be conducting the next parliamentary elections. In anticipation of this event, the growth of political tension in a country like Georgia, the entire post-Soviet period of which is characterized by multiple coups and fierce inter-party struggle, does not cause much surprise.