GEORGIA BETWEEN ELECTIONS: A Monthly Diary 2010-2012 (Caucasus Region Political, Economic, and Security Issues)

Since restoring its statehood in 1991, Georgia has travelled a difficult road. There have been civil conflicts, armed conflicts with separatists regions, and a Russian-Georgia war over these two decades. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia's economy experienced the most drastic economic breakdown among all former Soviet Republics. In the beginning of the 1990s, hyperinflation began. Though the economic situation started to improve substantially from 1995 on and ended with macroeconomic stability, corruption became the biggest problem by the end of 1990s. Severe social issues developed due to the corruption, which laid the foundation for the Rose Revolution. Although the new political leaders who came to power after the Rose Revolution, which took place in November 2003, embarked on ambitious reforms, they made serious mistakes. In October 2011, a Georgian billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili, openly expressed his political ambition for leadership. Until that point, he had been known in Georgia for his charitable activities. In October of 2012, Georgian voters successfully passed a test of democracy, the first since the restoration of Georgia's independence; they peacefully replaced one political party with another through parliamentary elections. The present book depicts a fairly complete picture of the events taking place since August 2010 through July 2012. This two-year period covers the time between two important elections. The diary describes the relatively calm political life which set in after the local elections, as well as the parliamentary election campaign. The diary was written based on the sources provided by information agencies operating in Georgia. In some cases, the diary contains information without any comments though author commented on all the significant information. The book reflects author's subjective opinion as well as objective sources.