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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has a story (3rd August 2009) about the faded dream of democracy in Georgia.

Some excerpts from the article:

TBILISI -- Nino Danelia has been doing her part to turn Georgia into a Western-style democracy for two decades.

As a 15-year-old high school student in April 1989, she joined pro-independence demonstrations in downtown Tbilisi and went on a hunger strike against Soviet rule. In November 2003, she was among the throngs of protesters who made up the backbone of the democratic Rose Revolution that swept current President Mikheil Saakashvili into power.

"Now a 35-year-old mother of two with short dark hair and thoughtful eyes, Danelia teaches media management at the Caucasus School of Journalism in Tbilisi. And as Georgia prepares to mark the first anniversary of last summer's brief and bitter war with neighboring Russia, she says the political struggle that has consumed most of her adult life has reached a critical juncture.

"I don't want my children to fight for their lives. I want them to live, to have fun, to get their education," Danelia says. "I think that now is a very important time for Georgia. History is sort of repeating itself, but somehow we have learned some lessons from history as well."

The story of post-Soviet Georgia is usually framed as a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the United States, a battle for energy routes and spheres of influence in the Caucasus, and a clash between titanic political figures like Saakashvili and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

But at a deeper level, it is also the story of millions of ordinary people like Danelia, who yearn for the kind of stable and predictable lives that citizens of Western countries take for granted.

Many thought they had reached the Promised Land in November 2003, only to be disappointed when the ideals of the Rose Revolution faded as its leaders descended into political squabbling and recriminations.

Further excerpts:

Lasha Bakradze, a Tbilisi-based historian and literary critic, says Saakashvili and his inner circle betrayed the ideals of the Rose Revolution by concentrating power in their own hands and abusing their authority.

He says the elusive dream of a stable and democratic Georgia is very much alive for him, but he adds that he doesn't trust Saakashvili's team to deliver it.

"Unfortunately a lot of the hopes which we had weren't fulfilled. But this was not mainly due to external pressure. It was because our government, the very small group of people who make all the decisions in this country, decided that they knew best," Bakradze says.

"They didn't assist the development of civil society; they didn't create institutions for people to have influence over what was happening. This is a very serious problem."

A Revolution Betrayed

In fact, critics say the tendency to sideline democratic institutions and abuse power began not long after Saakashvili was first elected president in January 2004 with more than 96 percent of the vote.

Rights groups accused Saakashvili and his long-serving interior minister and close ally, Vano Merabishvili, of using the country's law-enforcement bodies for political purposes.

Journalists also complained about political pressure. In July 2006, Eka Khoperia, the host of a popular political talk show on Rustavi-2 television, announced her resignation on the air and walked off the set during a live program.

Opposition figures complained bitterly about a 2006 decision to scrap direct elections of the country's mayors.

Opposition leaders also alleged fraud and voter intimidation in the 2006 local elections, the country's first electoral test after the Rose Revolution, in which Saakashvili's United National Movement won a large majority.

Tension between Saakashvili's government and the opposition climaxed in November 2007 when massive street demonstrations in downtown Tbilisi were violently dispersed by police and the antigovernment Imedi television station was stormed, temporarily shut down, and ownership transferred to a pro-government entity.

Charges of fraud and voter intimidation resurfaced in presidential and parliamentary elections in 2008.

Danelia says she and others who initially supported Saakashvili at first gave him the benefit of the doubt but have become disillusioned over time.

"Power spoils people and we know this," she says. "We gave him [Saakashvili] power and let him use this power how he and his friends and colleagues saw fit without any kind of criticism."

It is a mistake she says they will not make again.

"I think our society will be cleverer and won't let political leaders totally ruin the country," Danelia says.

"I think that the elections that will come will somehow be a test for that," she adds. "Can we survive and develop like a democratic country? Will we allow politicians to play with citizens as they want? Can we establish ourselves as a society?"

The full story can be read here:
http://www.rferl.org/content/Faded_Rose_Can_Georgias_Democratic_Dream_Be...