Georgia: Opposition Calls Off Hunger Strike

Georgian opposition leaders have ended a 17-day hunger strike without gaining the political concessions they sought from President Mikheil Saakashvili's administration.

In the early evening on March 25, Koba Davitashvili, leader of the opposition People's Party and one of the main hunger strike organizers, announced that the protest was over. Three hunger strikers had been forced to quit the strike for health concerns; one, parliamentarian Zviad Dzidziguri, had to be hospitalized.

Davitashvili's announcement came minutes after Georgian Patriarch Ilia II had urged the opposition to go home. "I think that your hunger strike is already dangerous for your health and other methods [of protest] exist," the 75-year-old Georgian Orthodox Church leader said, stressing that this is the second time he had asked the opposition to stop the strike.
"This is not Christian."

On March 21, the patriarch appealed to both the opposition and the government to resume their earlier negotiations, which centered on parliament's make-up and the administration of legislative elections. Instead of coming to an agreement, both sides blamed the other for ignoring the patriarch's request.

What made the opposition this time respond to the patriarch's request could have more to do with politics than piety. Leaders of the opposition coalition were appearing increasingly divided over the potential political benefits of the strike. With the parliamentary elections set for May 21, members of the eight-party coalition -- most notably the Republican Party -- argued that the opposition needed to focus attention on the campaign.

The strike, run by several opposition parties, started nearly three weeks ago after opposition leaders alleged that the government had reneged on an agreement that would divide parliament between 100 seats elected by regional party lists, and 50 seats for candidates elected in first-past-the-post races.

The strike failed to change the government's stance. On March 21, parliament passed a law that stipulates 75 seats for the party-list system and 75 seats for single mandate constituencies. A candidate need only win over 30 percent of the vote to be declared the outright winner. The system is widely perceived to favor Saakashvili's governing United National Movement Party.

No doubt for that reason, the opposition maintains that its struggle against the government will carry on. In comments to protestors on March 25, opposition leader Davitashvili warned Saakashvili that the opposition is ready for "war."

"Saakashvili declared war against us and we accept this challenge," he said, referring to the upcoming parliamentary vote. "If the May 21 parliamentary elections are rigged, like the January 5 [presidential election] was, the opposition will call for a people's rebellion. . . . It won't be a velvet revolution." [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The opposition's apparent readiness for violence was underscored on March 21, when protest participants lashed out at journalists from television stations Rustavi-2 and Mze. Both stations are largely considered pro-government news outlets. The opposition leaders have announced that they will refuse to give interviews to both stations that are not broadcast live.

After an end was declared to the hunger strike, Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze, a political ally of Saakashvili's, encouraged the opposition to return to the negotiating table. Seeking to deflect attention from Georgia's domestic crisis, she urged the opposition to "help" the government hold democratic elections -- thus "taking one more step" toward membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [Georgia's membership bid will be discussed at an April 2-4 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania].

Despite the government's seemingly conciliatory gesture, one political analyst suggested that Saakashvili's administration didn't win the latest round of political infighting. "[T]he government is playing a very unfavorable game. This game cannot show them in a good light," said Giorgi Khutsishvili, founder of Tbilisi's International Center on Conflict and Negotiation.

Political analyst Nika Chitadze notes that the protests, which were gaining a larger turnout in the past few days, may have helped the opposition kick off its parliamentary election campaign. "The opposition's main purpose is to start the election campaign by organizing mass protests," Chitadze said, adding that they want to "show" people that the government broke its promises.

Whether or not voters will buy that argument remains to be seen in May.