Commenting on the Guardian website at the weekend, the former UK Minister for Europe, Denis MacShane MP, called on the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron to “not let down Georgia”. MacShane is quite right that Georgia needs support from the international community to help it rebuild following the conflict with Russia in 2008. However, what he fails to acknowledge is that the person who must take the responsibility for “letting Georgia down” is Mikheil Saakashvili.

MacShane presents an idealistic view of Georgia, and it is clear that he has been taken in by the propaganda produced by the country’s government  in recent years. Under Saakshvili the progress of democratic reform has been slow and littered with setbacks, rather than the praise that MacShane suggests has come from the international community, financial institutions and NGOs.

In June this year Freedom House confirmed their view that Georgia made no overall progress towards democracy in 2009, lagging behind the post-communist average. The report rates Georgia's electoral processes in 2009 as no better than in 2003 - when electoral fraud led to the ouster of veteran Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze. The report added that since the Rose Revolution Georgia's only real improvements have been in corruption and, more marginally, the strength of civil society. In other key categories, such as media freedom and judicial independence the trend has been negative. A detailed report produced by Transparency International, appears to confirm this, stating that:

“Of the reforms that have so far been implemented, many are not of a lasting or systemic character.”

One only has to look to the recent mayoral elections in Tblisi to see that there is much progress still to be made before Georgia becomes a strong democratic nation. In his article MacShane incorrectly labels the mayoral elections “a success”, Europe’s election watchdogs have stated that this was not the case. The OSCE-led International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) said in a report that “significant shortcomings” remained in the electoral process, citing deficiencies in the legal framework, its implementation, an uneven playing field, and isolated cases of Election Day fraud.

The lack of independence in the media further detracted from the legitimacy of the mayoral elections. As stated by European Dialogue, the lack of transparency in the Georgian media, particularly television stations, ensures that the country falls short of European election standards. European Dialogue commented that:

“The Georgian public still do not know who controls and finances the country’s two main TV channels, Rustavi2 and Imedi. One can realistically assume that the Georgian Government is financially backing these and other sources of “information”.”

Mr MacShane was an engaging and influential Minister for Europe, but seems recently to have become something of an apologist for the Georgian government, praising the Deputy Prime Minister, Giorgi Baramidze at a an event in London, and writing this sycophantic article in June. As a member of the Council of Europe, he would be better to spend his time giving a balanced view of events in Georgia, and seeking to hold President Saakashvili to his promises. 

The Georgian government's latest official letter to the International Monetary Fund asking for additional financial support shows the regime spent $150 million in April and May on propping up the Georgian Lari ahead of the 30 May elections - only stopping the support once the polls had closed.

The ruling party won the local elections handsomely, with United National Movement mayoral candidate Gigi Ugulava polling 55% in Tbilisi, the centre of most opposition votes.

Once the support was withdrawn the Georgian currency plunged nearly 5% in just a few days, prompting concern abouit inflation and protests about the rising price of goods in the shops. If the devaluation had taken place in the days leading up to the polls it could have affected the results.

The Geogian letter - signed by Prime Minister, Nika Gilauri, the Finance Minister and the Central Bank Governor states:

Seasonal exchange market pressures continued after March. In anticipation that these
pressures would be reversed after the May 30 elections, the NBG increased its intervention in
April-May to USD 150 million. However, the persistence of pressures points to weakness in
FDI inflows in the first half of the year, which has led to a downward revision of projected
FDI inflows for the year. The exchange rate (vis-à-vis the USD) has depreciated by 4.6
percent in the first 9 days of June, and by 10.2 cumulatively since the beginning of the year.
Intervention volumes remained elevated in the first ten days of June because of the need to
stabilize market expectations, but the foreign exchange market has since stabilized.

The Council of Europe has said it is concerned by reports of diminished media freedom in Georgia, about the lack of transparency of media ownership and the failure of the national communications regulator to act in an independent and unbiased manner.

The CoE's comments, coming in a report that is generally favourable for the Georgian authorities, again shows that President Saakashvili, who has described reports of attacks on media freedom in Georgia as "total bullshit", is seriously out of kilter with Georgia's western allies on this issue if seen as making progress elsewhere.

The report, though, also insists that the Georgian authorities agree a new electoral code for parliamentary elections - due in 2012 - in good time for the CoE's constitutional watchdog, the Venice Commission, to examine the proposals:

The work of the EWG [Electoral Working Group] is currently suspended until after the local elections. We would like to stress the importance that the EWG should reconvene as soon as possible now that the local elections have been held. As mentioned previously, the current Electoral Code and other laws that govern the elections have seen multiple cycles of amendments to address shortcomings noted during elections. This has led to a significant number of contradictory or ambiguous provisions in the Electoral Code. In addition, the negotiations between the opposition and ruling majority over a new electoral system broke down before the 2008 parliamentary elections, in the polarised and tense political climate at that time. The resulting electoral system that was adopted by the Parliament in the absence of such a consensus is generally regarded as less than beneficial for an optimal pluralism in the Georgian Parliament. A new electoral code therefore needs to be drafted which includes an election system that has the consensus of as many as possible political forces in Georgia. This is a priority task for the EWG that should be finalised well before the next parliamentary elections in 2012. Given the importance of this subject, we firmly hope that all political forces will join this negotiation process in the EWG...

We welcome the series of democratic reforms initiated but would like to stress that such reforms should be developed and implemented in consultation with the opposition and not over their heads, which would defeat their purpose. In that respect, the need for a consensus on a new parliamentary election system, which would also take into account the Venice Commission’s comments, should be stressed.

Denis MacShane, British Labour MP for Rotherham (pictured), was the UK's minister for Europe in the early part of the last decade and latterly has taken to defending Mikheil Saakashvili - here we "Fisk" his recent commentary on Georgia's elections.

• Modernising the electoral code: in fact the ruling party just pushed through their own proposals when they could not get their way in the working group that was discussing this.
• Interagency task force: Nothing new and as in past elections this existed to offer excuses for the authorities' abuses
• Increasing funding for opposition parties: There was a small amount of money made available for the opposition parties to check the electoral lists, not for campaigning. In the campaign the UNM out spent all the other parties put together by well over nine to one.
• First ever TV debate: in fact this had nothing to do with the authorities and, while a step forward, was broadcast at a time that was sure to ensure a relatively small audience
• A parliament channel like BBC Parliament: With an audience to match! We doubt Dr MacShane thinks BBC parliament is a vital contribution to UK democracy, why does he think a channel with a micro audience is any different in Georgia?

Georgian democracy is not a zero sum game either, Dr MacShane. It's not a choice between Saakashvili and chaos - no matter how much the regime in Tbilis want to suggest it is.

Details of the four biggest party groupings' spending on the 30 May elections are now available.

It rather makes a mockery of any claim to have conducted a fair election when the leading party can outspend challengers by 100 to 1.

The biggest question of all remains: how does a party in a small and poor country like Georgia raise enough money for a municipal election to be able outspend major party candidates for the post of president of the United States without resorting to corruption or intimidation?