{"id":37812,"date":"2015-07-08T20:41:13","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T20:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=28308"},"modified":"2015-07-10T11:52:08","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T08:52:08","slug":"28308-georgien_saakaschwili_reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/28308-georgien_saakaschwili_reforms","title":{"rendered":"Regis Gente: Understanding pros and cons of Georgian reforms is important for Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NQL8T93DjxA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WATCH IN ENGLISH<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Kyiv, July 8, 2015.<\/strong> <\/em>Now when Mikheil Saakashvili became a governor of Odesa region in Ukraine, it became evident that experience and understanding of Georgian reforms\u2019 pros and cons is important for Ukraine. \u201cI talked with Saakashvili two days ago in Odessa and it is evident to me that whether you like it or not, he has got a clear vision of what he wants to do,\u201d said Regis Gente, a French journalist and author of the book \u201cPutin and Caucasus\u201d and \u201cA trip to Abkhazia\u201d during a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.<\/p>\n<p>Gente who has been living in Georgia since 2002 when Eduard Shevardnadze was president, emphasized that Saakashvili\u2019s reforms managed to break down corruption in post-Soviet Georgia. Successful reform was a satisfactory continuation of the Rose Revolution. \u201cI\u2019d like to emphasize that reforms in Georgia did happen, that there is no corruption in modern Georgia indeed. Following Saakashvili\u2019s rise to power, I\u2019ve never seen police or traffic police taking bribes or any other abuse taking place,\u201d said Gente.<\/p>\n<p>He explained the success of Georgian reforms through true political will. \u201cGeorgian reforms took place because there was political will. Moreover, there were no exceptions to these reforms. They really applied to everyone, even the most unprotected: for instance, African immigrants, told me they are not repressed in any way provided they obey the laws,\u201d said Gente.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Gente dwelled on shortcomings of Saakashvili\u2019s government and the reason for loss of power in Georgia in 2012. At present, approximately 20 percent of Georgian citizens support Saakashvili. Gente believes that there are five main reasons for Saakashvili\u2019s loss of power. First of all, Saakashvili lost power during fair and democratic elections. Voters like changing governments in democratic countries. Citizens often change their opinion in conditions of free exercise of choice, even if the changes are simply for change\u2019s sake. Among others, dissatisfaction with a considerable number of state officials who were dismissed, publishing videos unveiling multiple cases of excess of power by guards in Georgian prisons, economic reasons\u2014the government preached liberal ideology of self-regulation of market\u2014and the war in 2008 caused the former president to fall out of favor.<\/p>\n<p>In summary, Gente said that the main problem of Saakashvili\u2019s ideology was well intentioned in trying to break the cycle of corruption in Georgia, but his methods were not always democratic. Any fast change risked sacrificing democracy, as democratic process demands dialogue. \u201cAnother tragedy of Saakashvili is the fact that there was no real opposition in the country. All the public activists fighting against Shevardnadze became Saakashvili\u2019s ministers and deputies. There was no one to criticize Saakashvili\u2019s faults effectively,\u201d added Gente.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine\u2019s chances for success, in comparison with Georgia, depend on change demanded by the public. \u201cChanges in Ukraine take place not from the elite, but from the bottom. Perhaps, this is where Ukraine\u2019s success will lie,\u201d summarized Gente.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WATCH IN ENGLISH Kyiv, July 8, 2015. Now when Mikheil Saakashvili became a governor of Odesa region in Ukraine, it became evident that experience and understanding of Georgian reforms\u2019 pros and cons is important for Ukraine. \u201cI talked with Saakashvili two days ago in Odessa and it is evident to me that whether you like [&hellip;] <a class=\"g1-link g1-link-more\" href=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/28308-georgien_saakaschwili_reforms\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":37813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":[],"categories":[705],"tags":[],"section":[648],"form":[31956],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Regis Gente: Understanding pros and cons of Georgian reforms is important for Ukraine | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dxzkkFaMuo4; WATCH IN ENGLISH Kyiv, July 8, 2015. 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