04 October 2021, 19:14
Saakashvili's return brings up issue of protecting Georgia's borders
The crossing of Georgia's state border by Mikheil (Mikhail) Saakashvili, a former president of the country, has shown inefficient border defence; however, the incident will have no affect on the electoral support of the "Georgian Dream" Party, political analysts believe.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 1, Saakashvili was detained after he returned to Georgia. He was place behind bars and went on a hunger strike. President Salome Zurabishvili has ruled out his pardoning.
In Georgia, Saakashvili has been sentenced in absentia to three years under the case of abuse of his powers when pardoning those convicted for assassinating the businessman, Sandro Girgvliani, and to six years under the case of beating up Valery Gelashvili, an MP, in 2005.
Saakashvili could have entered Georgia from Turkey across the land border, Vakhtang Maisaya, a political analyst, has suggested. However, the former president could cross the border by sea.
Giorgi Badridze, an analyst with the Georgian Fund for Strategic and International Studies, has stated that the Saakashvili's crossing the border indicates that the country's borders are not properly guarded.
Mr Badridze is sure that the Saakashvili's violation of the country's border will not affect negatively the support of the "Georgian Dream" Party, since people are more concerned about their social problems – this may cause reluctance to vote for the party.
Saakashvili's arrival in Georgia will not affect the voting outcomes in favour of the ruling party, since it has its own stable electorate, says Nika Chitadze, the head of the Centre for Security and International Relations Studies.
Earlier, analysts suggested that Saakashvili's return to Georgia would lead to mass unrests. They did not rule out that the mobilization of supporters and opponents of the former president will affect the election process.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 4, 2021 at 09:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Beslan Kmuzov Source: CK correspondent
