Elections

Giorgi Gakharia, a former prime minister of Georgia who now leads one of the country's main opposition groups, was hospitalised after being severely beaten. Acording to media reports he sustained injuries on his face and head during an assault by several men at a hotel lobby in Batumi. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Gakharia said his health was stable. His party, For Georgia, called the assault a "brutal, coordinated group attack" and said the government was to blame. Party in government has denied any wrongdoing.

The situation in Georgia is currently very critical. As commonspace.eu pointed out in its editorial published on 2nd December time has run out for Bizhina Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream party. What remains for Ivanishvili and his associates is to agree an honourable exit after agreeing to new elections, which must be administered by a credible body. However, every day that Georgian Dream procrastinates, its position weakens. And every statement of its leaders makes things worse. The Georgian Dream had everything going for it but it squandered its political capital and its legacy. Ivanishvili tried to manage Georgian politics like a business. He failed to build bridges with opponents and relied on inexperienced people who failed to understand how Georgian politics worked. Georgia needs to come out of this experience stronger than before.