Government reforms: extraordinary achievements needed

A year ago, on September 23, 2010, the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, said in an interview for Tabula that his government needed extraordinary achievements to survive. He said that Georgia must become a European centre of the region, not a suburb of Europe: “The shortest route from Central Asia and China to Europe goes through Georgia - we should take the advantage of the reality that we are like Europe but at the same time we can understand Turkey, Iran, China and Central Asian countries.” To this end, Georgia signed a European Union Association Agreement, taking another step towards NATO integration and EU membership.

Moreover, he advocated a balanced Constitution with no concentration of power in the hands of one entity: opposition parties should also evolve. “The smaller and the swifter the government, the higher is the benefit to the population,” he said. Many countries, not just those of Europe in the throes of the global crisis and austerity measures, or Middle Eastern countries in the throes of the Arab Spring, are looking at government reforms to further enrich democracy and governance, government efficiency, and the fight against poverty. Saakashvili adds, “A society having no compassion towards disadvantaged fellow citizens is not a society,” and added that poverty reduction is a top priority for his government.

Freedom is a key component of his government’s reforms, of which he says of Georgia, that has a vestige of Soviet totalitarian thinking, “the degree of its freedom is rising day after day.” He sees freedom as an evolution and has introduced courses on critical thinking in schools, and promoted democratic values such as tolerance and human rights, to raise citizens “who value both personal freedom and freedom of the state.

Although, as Saakashvili says, “the global crisis has weakened the chances of small countries like Georgia [to set reforms of regional importance], extraordinary achievements are needed to survive. In the space of a year, it is not just small countries like Georgia, but all countries, that need extraordinary achievements to survive.

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...

The acacia thorn trees of Kenya

There are nearly 800 species of acacia trees in the world, and most don’t have thorns. The famous "whistling thorn tree" and the Umbrella Thorn tree of Kenya are species of acacia that do have thorns, or spines. Giraffes and other herbivores normally eat thorny acacia foliage, but leave the whistling thorn alone. Usually spines are no deterrent to giraffes. Their long tongues are adapted to strip the leaves from the branches despite the thorns. The thorny acacia like dry and hot conditions. The thorns typically occur in pairs and are 5-8 centimetres (2-3 inches) long. Spines can be straight or curved depending on the species. MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Suda...

Shindi: the Georgian Cornelian cherry

The Cornelian cherry – shindi in Georgian – is a fruit with medicinal and decorative properties. It was grown from ancient times, according to the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). It is also commonly called the European cornel. It is native to southern Europe from France to Ukraine as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. The Cornelian cherry tree ( Cornus mas ) can be grown in orchards, but it is often seen in the forests of Georgia where it grows up to 1,350 metres above sea level. It is a medium to large deciduous tree, growing from 5-12 metres tall. The flowers are small with four yellow petals in clusters, which flower in February and March. The Cornus mas has three botanical varieties: (1) var. typica Sanadze with cylindrical red fruits, (2) var. pyriformis Sanadze with pear-shaped red fruits, and (3) var. flava vest with yellow fruits. The fruits are oblong red drupes about 2 centimetres ...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog