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

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

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. ...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog