shooting foot, or more like chopping off whole leg



Before the news goes stale - opposition unity is already questionable. Actually, it's an eight party coalition now. How do you manage to lose a party within a few days after elections? Well, it's quite simple I guess. They suggested, and it seems that they are still actively pursuing the idea of an alternative parliament. Boycott turned out to be somewhat unpopular, majoritarian MP from on the the opposition parties refused to boycott, claiming that he has to server his electorate. At least there is one wise person in the bunch.

When asked what happened, leaders of the united opposition decided to blame voters. It is a known fact by know that some people in the opposition have pretty uncivilized ways of talking about the president, but calling voters "stupid" seems not only unfair, but also suicidal. Neither was the rephrased version cheerful - voters are apparently selfish and put their personal well-being ahead of that of the country.

What a surprise, people are selfish. I wish opposition said something new. Alas, they are drowning in the pit they decided to fill with tar themselves. They helped Imedi become popular, and Christian Democrats managed to pocket that popularity. They made November 7 happen, people pocketed 50 Lari vouchers for gas and electricity, and voted to Misha. We are back to square one. January elections gave me a hope, I thought that the Georgian politics was becoming more competitive and diverse. Surveys released prior to May 21 elections seemed to back the idea of diverse, hence strong legislative body, but reality turned out to be pretty grim.

People do not change easily, it takes generations to learn what democracy is. Unfortunately, many of those who got elected this time are the ones who managed to take advantage of unstability of the country during last decade to make money. Now, it seems that best way they found to retain the wealth is to be the ones to command the law. Georgians have to learn to leave their business interests behind when they join the legislative body, but that has yet to materialize. Most join to protect those interests, few have real motivation to help the people and the country.

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