Democratization In Conditions Of A Non-Recognized State, M. Gurgulia

Presentations

CONFERENCE

Abkhazia in the Context of Contemporary International Relations
Pitsunda, The Republic of Abkhazia: June 29 - July 1, 2004

Democratization In Conditions Of A Non-Recognized State

Manana Gurgulia
Director of the Information Agency ''Apsnypress''
Pitsunda, July 1, 2004

Two approaches towards conditions of building democracy: structural and procedural can be identified in the scientific literature. According to the first one democracy is formed under the pressure of such factors as the social-economical structure, the legal system, and the existing traditions. The procedural approach sees as the main condition for transition to democracy the nature of political elites, political values and ideals they share, their tactics and power technologies. According to this approach democracy is viewed as a “political project” implemented by the political elite, whereas the level of preparedness of the society for democratic changes is an attendant factor either making the process of democratic development faster or creating obstacles on its way.

I prefer to think that both approaches are complimentary. The creation and development of a democratic form of governance is determined by a series of objective and subjective factors. Various “political projects” proposed by political elites, and we are not talking here about utopias, have to take into consideration objective socio-economic conditions as well as cultural, religious and national traditions that had existed for centuries. The tree of democracy can grow only on a fertile sole.

The democratic development of non-recognized states in the post soviet space, where political elites unanimously claim that they follow democratic principles and values, becomes more difficult not only due to internal factors but also because of various external circumstances. The absence of international recognition and as a consequence – the political isolation, economic sanctions, the external military threat make the process of democratic development much more difficult.

The famous political scientist Robert Dahl distinguishes the following democratic institutions:

Elected officials;
Free, fare and regular elections;
Freedom of expression;
Alternative information sources;
Freedom of associations;
Universal human rights.

Without going deep into theoretical discussions about different scientific approaches to democracy I would like to focus in this presentation on the main political institutions of democracy and the way they are functioning in Abkhazia.

Political institutions of democracy have to provide effective participation of citizens in social life; dissemination of information about processes taking place in the society; pluralism of ideas and competitive opinions; public control over government activities and political decision-making concerning the most important issues.

The Constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia provides for the division of legislative, executive and judicial brunches of power, which are supposed to be independent of each other. In reality there is disproportion of competences in favor of the executive branch. Abkhazia is a presidential republic. The authority of the president is much wider than the authority of the Parliament. The President appoints the Prime Minister without coordinating the issue with the Parliament. Members of the Cabinet of Ministers are also appointed by a presidential decree without the consent of the legislative branch of power. The Parliament has no right to dissolve the government. Vote of no confidence can be used only against specific members of the Cabinet.

The controlling functions of the Parliament are minimal. The Parliament considers and approves the state budget and exercises control over its maintenance. The president approves programs in spheres of governmental, economic, social, cultural and national development of the country without any discussions in the Parliament.

Those who support the idea of a strong presidential power are justifying the maximal concentration of power in the president’s hands by the fact that the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict has not been resolved yet and that there is a threat of the resumption of military actions. Vladislav Ardzinba, who led the struggle of the Abkhaz people for their freedom and independence, had a huge credit of trust from the society. However the concentration of maximal power in the hands of a single person can lead to authoritarianism.

In recent years the question of redistribution of competences between legislative and executive branches of power to reach a balance between them, is actively discussed in the society. The majority of oppositional political parties are supporting the idea of strengthening role of the Parliament and increasing the role of the judicial branch.

It is known that one of the most important principles that provides for the independence of judges is the fact that they are not re-elected every five years. The October 1999 national referendum introduced an amendment to article 71 of the Constitution. According to the amendment every five years judges are appointed by the Parliament upon the presentation of the President. Unfortunately the judges, except V. Gurdjua, chairman of the Arbitrary Court, did not attempt to defend their own independence. Usually, the judges’ term of office is limited in the countries where courts have the right to revise the law. Even then the term of office is long enough.

There is no separate Constitutional Court in Abkhazia. The Supreme Court examines all the cases concerning the conformity to the Constitution of decisions by the President, the Parliament and other state organs including local self-government bodies. However the Supreme Court has considered no such cases so far. The Parliament has not passed the law on the Constitutional court yet. For example, according to the first article of the “Law on the election of the President of the Republic of Abkhazia”, only the person, who has lived in Abkhazia on a permanent basis “not less than 5 years before the election day”, can be elected President of Abkhazia. This article contradicts Article 49 of the Constitution and only the Supreme Court can take the final decision on this issue.

If the Supreme Court has to function as the Constitutional, it has to have the right to interpret the Constitution, while currently this function is performed by the Parliament.

In Abkhazia the President, the Parliament and local self-government bodies are elected. The President and the Parliament are elected for 5 years, and local self-government bodies - for three years.

The election system in the Republic is based on the principle of majority. 35 Members of the Parliament are elected according to 35 single member constituencies. The recently adopted law “On the election of deputies to the Peoples Assembly - the Parliament” gives the political parties and movements the possibility to nominate candidates in one third of districts. The development of the political system, the growing role of parties and movements brings to the agenda the issue of introducing a mixed proportional – majority system of elections.

In terms of the frequency of elections, there are no problems here. As for the freedom and fairness of elections, we have to admit that in the past there were violations on different levels during elections, and they are likely to take place during the upcoming presidential elections too. It is important that these violations will not seriously affect the results of the elections. It is an optimistic sign that candidates and their representatives more often go to courts when noticing violations, rather that “manage” the problems with their opponents themselves.

For the first time we have established the League of voters “For Fair Elections”. Ordinary citizens and representatives of non-governmental organizations united in a coalition for fair elections. Their aim is to contribute to open, fair and free elections. I consider all these factors as an indication of the growing legal culture in the society and increasing trust to Courts despite the problems, existing in this sphere.

Now I would like to say a few words about local self-government. The spring town and regional Assemblies elections in Abkhazia this year have demonstrated noticeable interest not only from the government side but also from different political parties and movements. In the past elections on this level were held formally, without real competition. However this spring voters in many electoral districts had a real opportunity to choose from several candidates. The struggle was particularly serious in Sukhum.

Gradually elected town and regional assemblies transform from a voiceless appendix of heads of town and regional administrations into active structures that are capable not only to vote for or against decisions taken on a higher level, but also to take independent decisions and control executive bodies.

Today heads of local administrations are not elected, they are selected from among the members of town and regional assemblies and appointed by the President. Some political powers in the Republic think that the citizens should elect heads of local administrations. This will contribute to a higher degree of independence of heads of local administrations, as well as to their responsibility and accountability to voters.

A state that has chosen a democratic way of development must provide the population with alternative information sources. Along with state (Abkhaz TV Company, information agency “Apsnypress”, newspapers “The Republic of Abkhazia” and “Apsny”) there are also independent Mass Media in Abkhazia. ASTV has monopoly on broadcasting news and talk shows on political matters due to the discriminating decree regulating the licensing of independent TV and radio. The situation with printed media is different. There are several independent newspapers in Abkhazia – the most popular are “Nuzhnaya”, “Ekho Abkhazii”, “Aitaira”, “Chegemskaja pravda”. They cover the most burning issues, criticize the of authorities and present a large spectrum of political opinions.

There is no legislation on Mass Media so far in Abkhazia. The Parliament approved only the draft, which needs alteration. The law will automatically reject the regulation concerning the licensing system for independent TV and Radio. The development of the legal basis for media requires the introduction of laws on the access to information, on defamation and on the freedom of information.

In recent years the political life in Abkhazia has become notably lively. The spectrum of political parties and opinions became wider. Up to now three political parties have been registered in the Ministry of Justice of Abkhazia: the Communist Party, the Peoples Party and the Republican Party “Apsny”. There are also 4 political movements: “Aitaira”, “Amtsakhara”, “Aidgilara”, and “Edinaja Abkhazia”. There is also a political movement “Akhiatsa”, created to support a specific candidate for presidency. Among the most influential oppositional political forces are “Amtsakhara”, “Aitaira”, “Edinaja Abkhazia” and the Peoples Party.

At the moment all the parties and movements are preparing for presidential elections. However, the process of democratization demands from them a high level of activity not only during presidential or parliamentary elections. After the elections among the important issues for them will be: the support for the ruling or oppositional course; public control over government activities; inner-party development that includes the strengthening of the party structure, the increase in quantity and transparency of program objectives and principles.

The existence of the civil society is a significant precondition and at the same time factor important for the establishing a political system of the democratic type. When I use the word combination “civil society”, I mean diverse forms of social activity of the population not conditioned directly by government politics. Civil society is the means for self-realization of individuals. It creates opportunities for the development and strengthening of democracy, limits the functions of the government and the level of its involvement in the life of citizens, exercises control over government activities.

The development of civil society in Abkhazia is negatively affected by the situation of “no peace – no war”. According to Natella Akaba “the negative perception of the civil society and other attributes of democracy is an absolutely natural and predictable result of the general politics of the international community towards Abkhazia”. By such politics she means the policy of isolation of Abkhazia, political and economical pressure on the republic, and the violation of basic rights of citizens, in particular the right to travel. According to Akaba “all these factors only strengthen the siege mentality among the population and creat barriers on the way to political transformation ”. (Collection “Aspects of Georgian-Abkhaz relations”, #9, page 112).

In Abkhazia like in Russia, leaders of civil society are mostly intellectuals, representatives of intelligentsia, they have no links with business. This fact limits the economic basis for the development of the civil society. Support of NGOs and independent Mass Media by western donors and funds raises a certain degree of mistrust among local authorities. Unfortunately the logic of officials, as well as of ordinary people, is often quite simple: donor support means that they buy NGO’s, otherwise what is the point to supporting anyone. However, those who state such things know very well that the first NGOs that appeared in Abkhazia immediately after the war, for a long time worked voluntarily.

In the West there are many NGOs that are financed not only by private foundations or by the business sector, but also by governments. And nobody says that the governments buy them. On the contrary, the society understands that NGOs undertake tasks that governments are willing to share with them.

Some NGO opponents were scared off by the prefix “non” in front of the word ”governmental”. The concept of a “non-governmental organization” itself is therefore perceived as something antigovernmental, which is not true. Of course, NGOs can criticize the government, but they are not created only for that purpose. There are many examples of positive cooperation of NGOs with authorities in different spheres of life of our society.

Because of the lack of resolution of state-legal relations with Georgia, the threat of the resumption of military operations and the absence of security guarantees from the international community, many people in Abkhazia are afraid of an internal division in the society and of its consequences. The Government calls upon the citizens to stay united. Unfortunately unity is often understood as agreement of opinion. However, if the people are deprived of their basic rights and freedoms, appeals for unity will not help.

It is important to emphasize that respect for one’s own dignity instead of blind loyalty to authorities, legal culture, civic responsibility for one’s own behaviour, civic initiative and creativity – all these factors are strengthening the state, not weakening it.

For the Abkhazia state the choice of democratic development is linked with the answer to the question: to be or not to be. By democracy we do not mean blind copying of western models. Democratic values are not alien to our traditional culture. On should mention here, first of all, the tradition of citizen participation in important decisions making. Even in conditions of the soviet totalitarian system Abkhaz people protested against discrimination and oppression. Organic combination of universal and traditional values will allow people not just formally agree with declared democratic way of development but implement it in real life.

There are various difficulties on the path of democracy building in Abkhazia. A certain degree of isolation of Abkhazia from the outside world and non-recognition by the international community have an impact on the level of democracy in our society.

The situation with human rights is not ideal in the republic. Unfortunately the work of the national and the parliamentary Commissions on Human Rights are not effective. Activities in the field of human rights protection are often limited to the education in the field of human rights. Recognizing the importance of human rights education, I, however, have to note that in practice it is much more difficult to protect the rights of a concrete person in a concrete situation.

Some sources of human rights violations should be looked for in the political-legal system of Abkhazia, others are due to external factors. For example: the basic right of Abkhazian citizens to have freedom of movement has been violated for a long time due to the blockade imposed on Abkhazia by Georgia and Russia.

The level of openness of our society is not high. However the threat of the resumption of military operations does not contribute to greater openness. People are reluctant “to wash their dirty linen in public”. They think that internal struggle can have negative consequences for the consolidation of the society in the face of a new war.

Civilized exchanges of opinions, discussions through the Mass Media and in the Parliament do not prevent the consolidation of the society. I think we should not wait until somebody starts pointing at our weaknesses and problems, instead we should openly talk about our problems. Ability to speak openly about one’s own problems is an indication of strength and maturity. It is the first step in overcoming one’s drawbacks.

Non-recognized states including Abkhazia are criticized more then the recognized ones. The mistakes of the latter are often overlooked at the time when non-recognized states dearly pay for similar mistakes. For instance, despite corruption, high criminal level, the presence of terrorist bands that name themselves “partisans”, Georgia has the support of the international community in political, military and economic spheres. At the same time economic sanctions against Abkhazia, adopted by heads of CIS states in January 1996, still exist. Everybody looks for terrorist centers in non-recognized states though it is very well known that neither Al Kaida nor Usama bin Laden or other Islamic fundamentalists have ever been to Abkhazia. Many modern recognized states were formed as a result of separatism and nobody sees that as a problem. At the same time Abkhaz separatism is labeled as “aggressive”. According to this logic, the people who number 100 thousand, who have survived a bloody war imposed on them by Georgia and who strive for freedom and independence, pose a threat to the whole world.

Finishing my presentation, I would like to emphasize that our internal stability can be reached only through a democratic society, which makes this stability long-term, in contrast to authoritarian regimes. If we become a democratic state that functions in accordance with the constitutional law, the state that is able to provide long-term stability, security and human rights protection, then we can count on external recognition of Abkhazia.

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