Georgia protesters give poll icy reception

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

By Neil Arun
BBC News, Tbilisi

The protesters came to the heart of Tbilisi to denounce their president, picking their way delicately along paths made perilous by black ice.

On open ground by the river, politicians attacked Mikhail Saakashvili, the man who could lead Georgia for another five years if partial results from Saturday's snap presidential election prove accurate.
***
Many Georgians who oppose Mr Saakashvili today say they supported him in 2003. Moreover, they agree he has achieved many of his objectives.

But at the polling station on Saturday, they rejected him. At the demonstration on Sunday, the reasons they gave were as varied as the five candidates standing against Mr Saakashvili.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7174343.stm

[Bicoastal]

1. Oh, THAT Georgia...

...you should probably say so upfront.

Lots of Atlantans are probably staring at the screen right now, going--"Saakashvili? What th' he-yell?"

[krispos42]

2. Technically, he or she can't

LBN posting rules call for the exact headline only, with no commentary or embellishments.


It's something that probaby should be changed.

I suggested that add a "Clarification" section to the headline section so you could do stuff like that, but...

:shrug:

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Quite so. Perhaps addition of keywords could be considered?

With strict rules (automatically enforced by the template) that, say, no more than a certain no. of characters be added, that they be enclosed in square brackets or braces (to look obviously "editorial") and always follow the complete original title. For example:

Georgia protesters give poll icy reception. {Rep. of Georgia}

Where the period and {} would be built into the template. It would be nice to add "Bill" or "Hillary" to OP's with "Clinton", for another example.

(Mods: "More free advice! Just what we were hoping for! Oh, happy happy joy joy!")

[krispos42]

5. I was thinking of that

Either be allowed to make clarification in some kind of
bracket or between two special symbols, like...

{Republic of} Georgia protesters give poll icy reception

<[Republic of]> Georgia protesters give poll icy
reception

((Republic of)) Georgia protesters give poll icy reception

Or else have a "clarification" text box that would
appear in the finished page like this:

Georgia protesters give poll icy reception
(Republic of Georgia)

[Judi Lynn]

6. Check Rule #4 in "Rules for Starting Threads in LBN:"

4. When posting articles, always use the published title of the article as the title of the discussion thread. Additional information may be included in a thread title (in parentheses) if it helps to make the title more clear.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Thanks. I've seen that message so many times it no longer registers.

:blush:

[redqueen]

9. Surely seeing "Tbilisi" in the dateline is enough of a hint? (nt)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Mr. Saakashvili has low friends in high places.

Say no more!

From the article:

"The courts are corrupt, the prisons are full. There is no justice, no democracy in this country," said Nikusha, a man in his early 20s with his face half-hidden by a scarf.

"He is selling off the country," said another young man, Rati. "Sure, we need foreign investment but he is giving all our wealth away for nothing."

Nearby, a group of women waved posters of the main opposition presidential candidate, Levan Gachechiladze.

"Saakashvili promised us democracy but he has given us a dictatorship," said Nino, in her late 50s.

From Wikipedia:

~snip~
Mikheil Saakashvili was born in Tbilisi, in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union, to a Georgian intelligentsia family. His father, Nikoloz Saakashvili, is a physician who still practices medicine in Tbilisi and directs a local Balneological Center. His mother, Giuli Alasania, is a historian who lectures at Tbilisi State University.

Saakashvili graduated from the School of International Law of the Kiev State University (Ukraine) in 1992. He briefly worked as a human rights officer for the interim State Council of Georgia following the overthrow of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia before receiving a fellowship from the United States State Department (via the Edmund S. Muskie/FREEDOM Support Act (FSA) Graduate Fellowship Program).

He received an LLM from Columbia Law School in 1994 and Doctor of Laws degree from The George Washington University Law School the following year. In 1995, he also received a diploma from the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

After graduation, while working in the New York law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in early 1995, Saakashvili was approached by Zurab Zhvania, an old friend from Georgia who was working on behalf of President Eduard Shevardnadze to recruit talented young Georgians to enter politics. He stood in the December 1995 elections along with Zhvania, and both men won seats in parliament, standing for the Union of Citizens of Georgia, Shevardnadze's party.
(snip)

.....Saakashvili ran on a platform of opposing corruption and improving pay and pensions.
(snip)

Saakashvili is a popular supporter of free market and believes that less government involvement in businesses is a good idea. During his administration Georgian economy advanced to a new level and increased tax collection after lower the tax rates.
(snip)

Saakashvili has occasionally used aggressive language, an example of which was reported by Amnesty International around the time of the President's inauguration. At a news briefing on 12 January, Saakashvili advised the then Justice Minister "to use force when dealing with any attempt to stage prison riots, and to open fire, shoot to kill and destroy any criminal who attempts to cause turmoil. We will not spare bullets against these people." Saakashvili in his inaugural speech stated that "now it is time for the government to be afraid of people." <12>

In 2004 a new media law sparked controversy, with fourteen Georgian civil society leaders and Georgian experts writing an open letter to the President, published in several national newspapers, claiming "Intolerance towards people with different opinions is being planted in Georgian politics and in other spheres of social life".

On March 27 2006 the government announced that it had prevented a nation-wide prison riot plotted by criminal kingpins. The Police operation ended with the deaths of 7 inmates and at least 17 injuries. Whilst the Parliamentary opposition has cast doubts over the official version and demanded an independent investigation, the ruling party has been able to vote down such initiatives.<13>.

The conduct of the Sandro Girgvliani Murder Case has also raised eyebrows at home and abroad. Several senior Interior Ministry officials were alleged to have played active roles in the murder, yet despite a series of resignations and sackings, only four low-ranking individuals, that were directly engaged in the case have been prosecuted. In addition to this, Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, has claimed that pressure has been exerted on his financial interests after Imedi Television broadcast several accusations against officials. On October 25, 2007, former defence minister Irakli Okruashvili accused his former ally president in planning Patarkatsishvili's murder.<14><15><16>. However, later he said that he did so to gain some political benefit and that Badri Patarkatsishvili told him to do so.

The partisan BHHRG has frequently claimed that the new government immediately set out to settle scores with Shevardnadze era officials. Many former ministers, local administrators and businessmen associated with the former regime were arrested for abuse of office. Some Western organisations were concerned by the live broadcasting of these arrests and by President Saakashvili's occasional appearances on television to denounce the suspects, before any charges were laid.
(snip)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikheil_Saakashvili

[dipsydoodle]

7. Just the usual driving factor - oil

In this case the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

From the outset, planning for the oil pipeline was guided not by immediate economic considerations but long-term US strategic goals. Since the early 1990s, Washington has been determined to exploit the unprecedented opportunity opened up by the collapse of the Soviet Union to establish its hegemony in the key resource-rich region of Central Asia.
>
As far as Washington was concerned, the chief consideration in plotting this tortuous path was to undercut the existing pipeline system in Russia and to avoid Iran, which offers the shortest and cheapest pipeline route from landlocked Central Asia to a coastline. The US has maintained an economic blockade of Iran since 1979.
>
The 50-metre wide corridor, through which the pipeline runs, is a virtual state within a state. It is governed by the Inter-Governmental Agreement signed by the participating countries. The agreement largely exempts BP and its partners from any laws in the three countries by allowing the consortium to demand compensation should any legislation (including environmental, social and human rights laws) make the pipeline less profitable. The pipeline passes through a national park in Georgia and several other environmentally sensitive sites. Critics claim that land has been taken from local farmers without proper compensation.
>
A report by Human Rights Watch last month criticised neighbouring Georgia, hailed this month by Bush as “a beacon of liberty”, for failing to guarantee the end of torture and duress to extract confessions from prisoners. “The new government... has taken some steps to address abusive practices, but these efforts have proven inadequate to stem them. Moreover, some of the government’s new law enforcement policies appeared to trigger new allegations of due process violations, torture and ill-treatment,” it stated.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/oil-m31.shtml

[KoKo]

8. Only place the Chimperor can go anymore and feel special with all that attention...

10,000 security personnel to keep our hated Chimperor from "the people." gah...