In September I attended a discussion between President Saakashvili and President Ilves moderated by the President of Columbia University, Lee C. Bollinger. I was very impressed with how Mr. Saakashvili presented Georgia after the Rose Revolution – he fired at the audience all sorts of numerical data that proved his case of a capable leader with many accomplishments. The numbers from internationally renowned organizations such as World Bank did not leave a doubt that corruption was effectively fought, GDP was growing, and Georgia was becoming one of the most favorable countries for starting a business. I definitely became a believer. So what is happening now, a provocation organized by the Russian special services, or Georgians’ active disagreement with the accuracy of the mentioned above numerical data?
What interests me even more is whether both Georgians and Ukrainians demand too much from their leadership, or whether both Rose and Orange Revolutions lost their momentum. Looking from across the ocean I see different things in the press than I hear from the people: could it be that these two focus on different aspects of the development and improvement? In Ukrainian case we just witnessed fair elections recognized by the international community, but Ukrainians sigh when asked about the political situation.
hm…
And since we already started talking about the revolutions, let us bow our heads in memory of the deceased October/November one because today it could have been its 90th birthday, and many people might have been ploughing in the morning and criticizing in the afteroon by now. If only Lenin did not think that he knew better than Marx 