In case you’re a bit under informed, the state of Georgia has not held Presidential elections in a second attempt to secede from the Union. I’m talking about the small nation-state of Georgia, which held presidential elections on the 27th of October. Georgia is located on the southwest border of Russia in the caucasus region and its relations with Russia have been strained, at best.
In August of 2008 the two countries, along with the separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, fought in a 5-day war that ended up being a huge embarrassment for Saakashvili, the Georgian president at the time. Although the events leading up to the war are somewhat complicated, what was obvious was Russia’s intention of ending Saakashvili’s rule and installing a new president. They were unsuccessful in 2008, but on November 13th they will achieve just that: Saakashvili will step down and make room for Georgia’s new president, Georgy Margvelashvili of the Georgian Dream Party.
Russia may finally be rid of Saakashvili, but it warns that Georgian-Russian relations will not see drastic improvements anytime soon. If citizens on both sides of the border were hoping for a detente of sorts with the new president, they may have to wait a while.
Side note: the Georgian Dream Party is supposedly named after this Georgian music group’s song of the same name:
[youtube_sc url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo90tztqTL4″]
You may not understand a word, but it does show some beautiful Georgian scenery.
Whither balance of powers in Georgia? I wonder what will happen now that the billionaire premiere, also head of the Dream Party, has his hand-picked candidate? Granted, presidential powers have been weakened in recent constitutional changes in favor of parliament, but the Dream Party now has a choke hold on power. The expectations will be high. Can they create the close ties with the West that they want without upsetting Russia?