Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Georgia Democracy Watch

Georgia's English-language newspaper, The Messenger, reports that it's not really all roses after the "Rose revolution":
"Millions of euros of development money remain at risk from the country's crippling levels of corruption, thus the EBRD must take a strong stance to encourage the independent assessment of privatization and public procurement in Georgia," Bankwatch says.

The NGO notes that the introduction of democracy and the rule of law remain an issue of concern in Georgia. "Unfortunately, since the 'Rose Revolution', the structure of government and the administration has changed substantially. The constitutional amendments have breached one of the fundamental principles of democratic constitutionalism, namely the horizontal distribution of power, or the system of checks and balances," it says. As a result, the organization notes Georgia's state apparatus is "misbalanced and prone to political crisis."