Minority Political Inclusion in Mikheil Saakashvili's Georgia

Abstract

Georgia's Rose Revolution promised sweeping economic and political reforms, designed in part to enhance the livelihoods of ethnic and religious minority populations. The Rose events, however, occurred concomitantly with a surge in ethnic unrest. This article examines this paradox, arguing that the three major policy goals of the Saakashvili regime: the devolution of power to minorities, anti-corruption reform and state capacity building, have resulted in contradictory policy outcomes that have disproportionately hurt ethnic and religious minority enclaves.

Notes

Thanks to APSA and ASN panel discussants Mark Beissinger and Stephen Jones and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. Many thanks to Alexander Rondeli and Temuri Yakobashvili at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies in Tbilisi, as well as Eka Metreveli, Nana Papiashvili, Salome Tsereteli, Irakli Vacharadze, and Jeremy Teigen. Research was conducted with monetary support from the Fulbright Program and the Professional Staff Congress of the City University of New York. All errors are my own.

Not all of the revolutions used ‘coloured’ labels, although the coloured designation has become common.

The Soviet Union granted Ajara and Abkhazia Autonomous Republic status, the highest level of autonomy after the Union Republic (such as Georgia). South Ossetia's status as an Autonomous Oblast’ was one lower in the hierarchy. Although the impact of placement is not entirely straightforward and too complex to be taken up here, this difference in status doubtless affected how the Georgian state dealt with its territory in the 1990s, particularly with regard to central government decision making leading up to the war with South Ossetia.

By districts is meant the administrative districts (which function as electoral districts); the districts in turn make up the larger regions.

This policy summary is drawn from Saakashvili's speeches and a personal interview prior to his presidency and reports his intentions at face value.

Mikheil Saakashvili, Head of the National Movement Organization and then Chairman of the Tbilisi Sakrebulo, personal interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2 November 2002.

Russia's ongoing influence in Georgia's territorial conflicts is well documented; see King and Melvin (2000) and Lynch (2000).

Valerie Gelbekhiani, Member of Parliament and then Deputy Chairman of the Revival Party (demokratiuli aghordzinebis pavshiri), personal interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 10 April 2002.

David Abashidze, then Ajaran Finance Minister, personal interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 17 May 2002.

Vakhtang Khmaladze, Member of Parliament and Head of the 1995 Georgian Constitutional Commission, personal interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 2 May 2002.

Konstantin Zugaev, South Ossetian Minister of Information and Press, 1998–2002, former Member of South Ossetian Parliament, Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, 27 November 2002.

Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia, 1992–2003, personal interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 28 June 2006. Shevardnadze attributed the lack of a timely settlement with South Ossetia's Chibirov to anticipated resistance by the Georgian people to a settlement along federal lines.

Jemal Inaishvili, Deputy Chairman of Parliament, National Movement, Majoritarian Representative from Ajara, personal interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 12 June 2006.

Public opinion polling conducted nationwide indicated that 31% of respondents in June 2004 felt that ‘solving the Ajara problem’ was ‘the most significant achievement of the new Georgian government’. This answer was the most popular answer, followed by ‘fighting corruption’ (10%) and ‘don't know’ (21%) (Chhor 2004).

Ajara, Law of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara on Structure, Authorities, and Rules for Activities of Government of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, 29 July 2004, No 017/16 RS.

Otar Ghorjomeladze, Member of Parliament, Khulo District, Ajara, personal interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 8 June 2006.

Bekir Bolkvadze, Head Mufti of Ajara, telephone interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 27 June 2006.

This suspicion was only helped by statements such as those made by (now former) Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili that he would spend New Year's 2007 in Tskhinvali (Corso 2006a).

Irakli Kenchoshvili, former Press Officer for Foreign Minister under Zviad Gamsakhurdia, interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 1 November 2002.

For each of the 69 districts, there are 10 Single Member District (SMD) seats and a number of PR seats, which are determined by the district population. They range in number from four to 31. (The Tbilisi districts vary somewhat from this.)

Alexei Gerasimov, Assistant to President Eduard Shevardnadze on Ethnic Issues, personal interview with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, 6 November 2002.

A Russian base also remains in Abkhazia, in Gudauta.

Prohibition of Political Parties and Analogous Measures Report, Venice Commission, Council of Europe, CDE–INF (1998) 014E, 12–13 June 1998, available at: http://www.venice.coe.int accessed 15 March 2008.