At first educated in this country, fluent in the values of free-market democracies, present Georgian president, M. Saakashvili, was supposed to have been different from previous absolute ruler of Georgian Republic, E. Shevardnadze.
But the state of emergency, announced by Saakashvili’s government, recent disrupting protest meetings and processions of local opposition and violent shutting an opposition TV station, as well as, other independent mass media in Georgia has turned present Georgian leader into a dictator, who is no better than Shevardnadze was.
You see, even the previous Georgian president has decided not to use his force towards oppositional demonstrators or to close independent media as it has done by present Georgian leader. Thus, our efforts to pick “model reformers” in Georgian Republic have failed again. We should admit that US backing of Saakashvili’s regime has produced only authoritarian reforms rather than spreading the benefits of democracy and the market to the local population at large. And in case Saakashvili wins at the pending presidential elections in Georgia he is sure to ruin absolutely positive image of western democracy among Georgians. Washington mustn’t help this man into power again!