Rose Revolution

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Georgia (country)
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Georgia

President: Mikheil Saakashvili Prime Minister: Zurab Noghaideli Parliament Political parties in Georgia Elections in Georgia Parliamentary: 2003 - 2004 Presidential: 2004 Rose Revolution UNOMIG Regions and Republics Human Rights Foreign relations See also: Politics of Abkhazia
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Mikheil Saakashvili and his supporters marched on the parliament carrying roses as a symbol of nonviolence

The Rose Revolution (Georgian: ვარდების რევოლუცია) refers to a peaceful 2003 revolution in the country of Georgia that displaced President Eduard Shevardnadze.

1 Contemporary political situation
2 Elections and protests
3 Change of power
4 In Ajaria
5 Legacy
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Contemporary political situation

Georgia had been governed by Eduard Shevardnadze since 1992 (President of Georgia since 1995). His government—and his own family—became increasingly associated with pervasive corruption that hampered Georgia's economic growth. The country remained very poor by European standards. Two Russian-supported breakaway regions (Abkhazia and the so-called South Ossetia) remained outside the control of the Tbilisi government, and the autonomous republic of Ajara was ruled by semi-separatist leader Aslan Abashidze. The political and socioeconomic crisis was close to reaching its peak just before the parliamentary elections appointed on November 2, 2003. Shevardnadze’s political alliance “For New Georgia” and Abashidze’s “Union of Democratic Revival of Georgia” were opposed by popular opposition parties: Mikheil Saakashvili’s “United National Movement” and “Burjanadze-Democrats” led by Parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Zhvania who accidentally died from a gas leak in his friend's apartament on February 8, 2005.

Map of Gerogia

[edit] Elections and protests

Rose Revolution: Demonstration at the City Hall, Freedom Square, Tbilisi

Georgia held parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003 which were denounced by local and international observers as being grossly rigged in favor of Shevernadze. Mikheil Saakashvilli claimed that he had won the elections (a claim supported by independent exit polls). This was confirmed by an independent parallel vote tabulation (PVT) conducted by the ISFED (International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, local election monitoring group). Saakashvilli and the united oposition accepted ISFED's PVT as "official" results, and urged Georgians to demonstrate against Shevardnadze's government and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience against the authorities. The main democratic opposition parties united to demand the ouster of Shevardnadze and the rerun of the elections.

In mid-November, massive anti-governmental demonstrations started in the central streets of Tbilisi, soon involving almost all major cities and towns of Georgia. The “Kmara” (“Enough!”) youth organization (a Georgian counterpart of the Serbian “Otpor”) and several NGOs, like the Liberty Institute, were active in all protest activities. Shevardnadze’s government was backed by Aslan Abashidze, the semi-separatist leader of autonomous Ajara region, who sent thousands of his supporters to hold a pro-governmental counter-demonstration in Tbilisi.

[edit] Change of power

This article is part of the series on: History of Georgia
Early History
Kura-Araxes
Diauehi
Colchis
Egrisi
Caucasian Iberia
Medieval History
Tao-Klarjeti
Abkhazian Kingdom
Russian Rule
Georgia Under Imperial Russia
Early Independence
Democratic Republic of Georgia
Soviet Georgia
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
March 9 Tragedy
April 9 Tragedy
Modern Georgia
Republic of Georgia
Georgian Civil War
Rose Revolution
Post-Shevardnadze
History By Autonomous Republics
History of Abkhazia
History of Adjara

The opposition protest reached its peak on November 22, the day of an opening session of a new parliament, which was considered illegitimate. The same day, opposition supporters led by Saakashvili with roses in their hands (hence the name Rose Revolution) seized the parliament building interrupting a speech of President Eduard Shevardnadze and forcing him to escape with his bodyguards. He later declared a state of emergency and began to mobilize troops and police near his residence in Tbilisi. However, the elite military units refused to support the government. In the evening of November 23 (St George’s Day in Georgia), Shevardnadze met with the opposition leaders Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania to discuss the situation, in a meeting arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. After the meeting, the president announced his resignation. That prompted euphoria in the streets of Tbilisi. More than 100,000 protesters celebrated the victory all night long, accompanied by fireworks and rock concerts.

The outgoing speaker of parliament, Nino Burjanadze, assumed the presidency until new elections could be held. The Supreme Court of Georgia annulled the results of the parliamentary elections. In the January 4, 2004 presidential election Mikheil Saakashvili won an overwhelming victory and was inaugurated as the new President of Georgia on January 25. On March 28, 2004, new parliamentary elections were held, with a large majority won by the Saakashvili-supporting National Movement - Democrats, and a minority representation of the Rightist Opposition.

[edit] In Ajaria

In May 2004, the so-called "Second Rose Revolution" took place in Batumi, Ajaria. After months of extreme tension between Saakashvili’s government and Aslan Abashidze, the virtual dictator of the autonomous region, thousands of Ajarians, mobilized by the United National Movement and Kmara, protested against Abashidze’s policy of separatism and militarization. Abashidze used security forces and paramilitary groups to break up the demonstrations in the streets of Batumi and Kobuleti. However, he failed to suppress the protests which later became more and more massive. On May 6, 2004 (again St George’s Day), protesters from all Ajara gathered in Batumi despite being dispersed by force the day before. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze negotiated with Ajarian Interior Minister Djemal Gogitidze to withdraw his forces from the administrative border at the Choloki River and led Georgian Special Forces into the region. Abashidze bowed to the inevitable, resigned in the same evening and left for Moscow. President Saakashvili visited Batumi the next day and was met as a liberator by celebrating Ajarians.

[edit] Legacy

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Saakashvili's inauguration as President of Georgia

A new era is said to have begun in Georgia after the Rose Revolution. While the West considers the Rose Revolution a move towards democracy, its opponents including several Russian and pro-Russian politicians claim the revolution to be a “made-in-America coup” emphasizing the role of the Open Society Institute of George Soros in financing the Georgian opposition.

Several reforms were launched by a new government and strong anti-corruption measures were established. Georgia’s foreign policy was proclaimed strongly pro-Western. However, some concerns have been made by Georgian opposition regarding Saakashvili’s authoritarian tendencies.

Post-revolution, the authorities are continuing to demonstrate a clear resolve to build a stable and modern European democracy and to better integrate the country into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. The Georgian government hopes to join NATO by 2008 and start accession talks with the EU afterwards. The post-revolutionary euphoria has given way to more pragmatism; the hasty, sometimes even chaotic initial approach to reforms is very gradually being replaced by a clearer focus on priorities and by a better-defined strategy. However, most reforms are still at the very beginning and major challenges still lie ahead. The ambitious work which has been undertaken in order to bring legislation in line with European standards still has to produce concrete results in most areas. The implementation of reforms will be just as important and the authorities will have to demonstrate, at every step, that their solutions in overcoming the inevitable problems and obstacles along the way, fully abide by the principles of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights.

Two years after coming into power, the Georgian authorities still enjoy high popular support and benefit from a broad public consensus over the objectives and goals of the democratic transition. The people's trust must not be betrayed. In a country which is emerging from decades of political hypocrisy and manipulation, any failure to deliver on promised reforms can easily result in mistrust and questioning of these same reforms, especially by the most heavily affected layers of the population. The authorities cannot afford any unnecessary delays and obstacles which could be caused by nostalgic or revengeful attitudes; they should therefore be careful to always match words and deeds and to be open to dialogue and criticism. According to Saakashvili, full normalization of the situation in Georgia is impossible without regaining control over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. President Saakashvili made some efforts to push forward his initiative, but at the same time real progress has not been achieved on the ground and in the ongoing negotiations, because of lack of commitment from Russia to the territorial integrity of Georgia.

The Orange Revolution that followed the disputed November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election is said to have been partly inspired by the Georgian Rose Revolution. Georgian flags were seen being waved by supporters of Viktor Yushchenko, who held up a rose while greeting the crowds. The chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security, Givi Targamadze, former member of Liberty Institute, was consulted by Ukrainian opposition leaders on techniques of nonviolent struggle. Later on he also advised leaders of the Kyrgyz opposition during the 2005 Tulip Revolution.