Communists Die Hard in Georgia (the Caucasus, that is) By Andrew L. Jaffee, November 14, 2003	Home   Search   Forum   Terms

Thousands of demonstrators have formed a human chain around the headquarters of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, in the capital city of Tbilisi. The protestors, who demand that Shevardnadze should resign, believe that he stole the November 2 elections. Given Shevardnadze's tainted past, I find myself siding with the demonstrators.

Remember who Shevardnadze was? He became a member of the Soviet Communist Party in 1946. Remember who ruled the Soviet Union then? None other than one of the world's greatest mass murderers, Joseph Stalin. Anyone who could willingly join Stalin's party had to be evil. Nonetheless, Shevardnadze was ambitious and climbed up the Party's ladder of "success."

Shevardnadze was an official in the KGB, Mother Russia's mafia which killed millions of innocents under Soviet rule. Incidentally, Shevardnadze has opposed all efforts to open the massive KGB archives, in which families hope to find out why their loved ones "disappeared." He became Soviet foreign minister in 1985. He was "installed" as Georgia's president by paramilitary groups in 1992. True to his ex-Soviet colors, he tried to violently destroy the democratic aspirations of the independent republic of Abkhazia.

While Georgia has tried to experiment with democracy, things aren't going too well. According to the BBC:

Despite repeated official promises to stamp out crime and corruption, the country continues to be ravaged by both. Recent years have seen institutional, legal and economic reforms, but many of the achievements have been undermined by corrupt practices.

Shevardnadze's not helping. It seems he'll do anything to stay in power, including enlisting the help of his old KGB friend Vladimir Putin, the not-so-democratic leader of Russia. But Eduard is not budging:

However, Mr Shevardnadze reiterated on Friday that he had no intention of stepping down until the presidential election in 2005.

But correspondents say he is deeply unpopular in a country where poverty and corruption are widespread.

There is a wide consensus that Mr Shevardnadze must go, they say, and people are hoping for a scenario similar to the popular uprising which drove former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic from power in 2000.

The U.S. has been trying to build close ties with Georgia, especially in the war on terror. It would be wise for Shevardnadze to step aside and let his people work for true democracy in Georgia. But old habits die hard.