Russian experts lull: The Georgian opposition has been left in the cold
After the bill on foreign agents is withdrawn from the Georgian parliament, mass unrest in Tbilisi will subside.
Nikolai Silaev, a leading researcher at the Center for Caucasus Problems and Regional Security at MGIMO, said this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
He believes that opposition protests will gradually fade away.
“Opponents of the current government have been left out in the cold. If the protests stop, then all the energy will go into emptiness. If they continue, it means that it is important for the organizers to create unrest rather than solve the problems facing the country. The withdrawal of the law is a move in the spirit of Bidzina Ivanishvili. He doesn't like intense confrontation. In a situation of a head-on collision, he prefers to take a step back and then enter from the other side,” the expert told Izvestia.
A similar opinion is shared by the deputy director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Skakov, according to whom, “the opposition has found itself in a stalemate.”
“They no longer have a reason; it turns out they have lost the only item on the agenda. You can try for the tenth time to worry about Saakashvili’s health, but this, of course, is futile. Apparently, now they will protest for the sake of protesting, against everything bad. This means that the performances will gradually fizzle out,” hopes Skakov.
But Georgian political scientist Shota Apkhaidze is far from optimistic.
“The main task is a coup d’état. Removal of those forces that are trying to build Georgian sovereignty. The coming to power of a pro-Western government. Washington wants Tbilisi to join anti-Russian sanctions, begin supplying Ukraine with weapons, and ultimately open a second front against Russia in the Caucasus. This is an important and long-term task.
Revoking the law on foreign agents will not change anything here. Yes, the protests may die down for a while, but then a new reason will appear and the actions will flare up with renewed vigor. We see and will see constant pressure,” Aphaidze predicts.
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