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ELECTIONS IN UNRECOGNIZED REPUBLICS ARE MORE DEMOCRATIC THAN THOSE IN METROPOLITAN COUNTRIES
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2007 GMT+04:00
The delayed-action mine, placed during the establishment of the USSR
will still display its effects for a rather long time.
The history repeats itself - Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and now
Abkhazia. The unrecognized republics' wish to decide their destiny on
their own has again faced the resistance of the World Community, and
the Parliamentary Elections in Abkhazia may serve as a proof for the
above mentioned. "All the elections held in Abkhazia in post-war period
speak for the stable move towards democracy and development of jural
state", said the president Sergei Bagapsh after voting in the polls.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We have all the attributes for freedom and
democracy, namely opposition, independent Mass Media, alternative
elections," the president emphasized. It was immediately followed by
announcements made by EU and USA. The President of Georgia Mikhail
Saakashvili didn't keep aside either and announced, that "the attempt
to legalize this anarchism must not be recognized neither by Georgia,
nor by the World Community". Things are clear with Georgia - in
fact it has almost de jure lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia, just
like Azerbaijan has lost Nagorno-Karabakh, and Moldova has lost
Transnistria.
Strangely enough, elections in unrecognized republics are more
democratic than those in metropolitan countries. The difference perhaps
is that in the very situation the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Abkhazia, Transnistria decides itself how to live, while Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Moldova have different principles, and the fact that
those principles are not recognized in the world, doesn't prevent the
international community to shut its eyes to them. Here the matter is
not in particular "love" EU has for Ilham Aliyev or for Saakashvili;
the matter is not even in energy vectors or military bases, but in the
stability of the region. And unfortunately these are the presidents who
can secure peace in two rather problematic countries of the Southern
Caucasus. The most essential problem is the ethnic problem, and in
this aspect the wish of the certain groups of the population, wanting
to live in their own way may lead to chain reaction in Azerbaijan,
where several large ethnic groups, which during the Soviet times
were registered as Azerbaijani are settled. Those are the Talishs,
the Lezghins, the Tats, and the Udins. The same problem exists in
Georgia. If suddenly the World Community recognizes the independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria,
the future of the South Caucasus will be very problematic.
According to Sergei Bagapsh; "The World Community must finally
realize that Abkhazia doesn't simply acquire democratic values,
but also follows them". At the same time the Abkhazian authorities
don't expect Georgia's consent, but they still hope to count on
the international recognition of the republic. "Even the strongest
autonomy - it is already a past phase", says the Security Council
secretary of the unrecognized republic Stanislav Lakoba, "Other
political approaches should be developed."
It should be mentioned that the President Saakashvili has mentioned
more than once, that he intends to gain back his power over Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. These announcements are not taken seriously in
Abkhazia, just like Ilham Aliyev's announcements over the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh are not.
As for announcement made by EU, it speaks of nothing else than "the
complete support of Georgia's territorial integrity". According
to Europe's position "Georgian elections in the region will be
recognized only after all the refugees are granted the right to safely
return home." The declaration of the EU was also supported by the EU
candidate-countries - Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia, as well as by
other European countries including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia, Ukraine, and Moldova.
The reasons EU has adopted the above mentioned position are clear -
it has its own problems; such as the Basque issue, the issue of the
Irish of Dublin, the Francophones of Belgium, which are not against
getting apart either. This whole story reminds Moscow's position at
the beginning of the Karabakh conflict; the same fear regarding the
chain reaction.
But the most important edification is that in spite of all preventive
measures, the USSR clove into a number of countries, which are falling
apart in their own turn. The delayed-action mine, placed during the
establishment of the USSR will still display its effects for a rather
long time, unless the very Georgia and Azerbaijan realize that the
territorial integrity of their countries is not the truth of the
ultimate authority.
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.03.2007 GMT+04:00
The delayed-action mine, placed during the establishment of the USSR
will still display its effects for a rather long time.
The history repeats itself - Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and now
Abkhazia. The unrecognized republics' wish to decide their destiny on
their own has again faced the resistance of the World Community, and
the Parliamentary Elections in Abkhazia may serve as a proof for the
above mentioned. "All the elections held in Abkhazia in post-war period
speak for the stable move towards democracy and development of jural
state", said the president Sergei Bagapsh after voting in the polls.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "We have all the attributes for freedom and
democracy, namely opposition, independent Mass Media, alternative
elections," the president emphasized. It was immediately followed by
announcements made by EU and USA. The President of Georgia Mikhail
Saakashvili didn't keep aside either and announced, that "the attempt
to legalize this anarchism must not be recognized neither by Georgia,
nor by the World Community". Things are clear with Georgia - in
fact it has almost de jure lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia, just
like Azerbaijan has lost Nagorno-Karabakh, and Moldova has lost
Transnistria.
Strangely enough, elections in unrecognized republics are more
democratic than those in metropolitan countries. The difference perhaps
is that in the very situation the population of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Abkhazia, Transnistria decides itself how to live, while Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Moldova have different principles, and the fact that
those principles are not recognized in the world, doesn't prevent the
international community to shut its eyes to them. Here the matter is
not in particular "love" EU has for Ilham Aliyev or for Saakashvili;
the matter is not even in energy vectors or military bases, but in the
stability of the region. And unfortunately these are the presidents who
can secure peace in two rather problematic countries of the Southern
Caucasus. The most essential problem is the ethnic problem, and in
this aspect the wish of the certain groups of the population, wanting
to live in their own way may lead to chain reaction in Azerbaijan,
where several large ethnic groups, which during the Soviet times
were registered as Azerbaijani are settled. Those are the Talishs,
the Lezghins, the Tats, and the Udins. The same problem exists in
Georgia. If suddenly the World Community recognizes the independence
of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria,
the future of the South Caucasus will be very problematic.
According to Sergei Bagapsh; "The World Community must finally
realize that Abkhazia doesn't simply acquire democratic values,
but also follows them". At the same time the Abkhazian authorities
don't expect Georgia's consent, but they still hope to count on
the international recognition of the republic. "Even the strongest
autonomy - it is already a past phase", says the Security Council
secretary of the unrecognized republic Stanislav Lakoba, "Other
political approaches should be developed."
It should be mentioned that the President Saakashvili has mentioned
more than once, that he intends to gain back his power over Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. These announcements are not taken seriously in
Abkhazia, just like Ilham Aliyev's announcements over the issue of
Nagorno-Karabakh are not.
As for announcement made by EU, it speaks of nothing else than "the
complete support of Georgia's territorial integrity". According
to Europe's position "Georgian elections in the region will be
recognized only after all the refugees are granted the right to safely
return home." The declaration of the EU was also supported by the EU
candidate-countries - Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia, as well as by
other European countries including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia, Ukraine, and Moldova.
The reasons EU has adopted the above mentioned position are clear -
it has its own problems; such as the Basque issue, the issue of the
Irish of Dublin, the Francophones of Belgium, which are not against
getting apart either. This whole story reminds Moscow's position at
the beginning of the Karabakh conflict; the same fear regarding the
chain reaction.
But the most important edification is that in spite of all preventive
measures, the USSR clove into a number of countries, which are falling
apart in their own turn. The delayed-action mine, placed during the
establishment of the USSR will still display its effects for a rather
long time, unless the very Georgia and Azerbaijan realize that the
territorial integrity of their countries is not the truth of the
ultimate authority.
"PanARMENIAN.Net" analytical department