20 Years Later: How is the Rose Revolution viewed in Georgia?

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

20 years ago, on November 23, 2003, 35-year-old Mikheil Saakashvili, then an opposition leaders, and his supporter, stormed the Georgian parliament, thus ending the 11-year rule of President Eduard Shevardnadze.

The reason for the bloodless coup d’état was the rigged parliamentary election held on November 2, 2003. While Saakashvili’s National Movement party came in first in exit polls, the Central Election Committee declared the official New Georgia bloc the winner.

Saakashvili and other opponents of Shevardnadze’s government claimed that the election results were rigged, as confirmed by foreign observers, and this view was shared by the majority of the population.

The first demonstration against election fraud took place on November 4.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Tbilisi. Saakashvili was one of three political leaders at the head of the protest. The other two were former parliamentarians Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze, more experienced and influential politicians than Saakashvili. But people on the street chanted “Misha”.

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

Despite popular protests, the government declared the elections valid and scheduled the first session of the newly elected parliament for November 22.

Participants in the nearly month-long continuous protest piled outside the parliament building.

While President Eduard Shevardnadze was addressing the newly elected parliament, some of the protesters stormed the building. They were led by Saakashvili, who held a rose in his hand as a sign that the protesters were unarmed and had peaceful intentions. Saakashvili and his supporters stormed into the session hall, Shevardnadze was escorted out of the hall by security guards, and Saakashvili took his place on the podium and finished the tea he had left behind.

These events, which took place 20 years ago, have gone down in Georgia’s history as the “Rose Revolution.”

Following the departure of Shevardnadze, Saakashvili won the January 4, 2004 presidential election and the National Movement party won an absolute majority in the March 28 parliamentary elections.

Saakashvili’s government ruled the country for nine years until it lost to the current ruling Georgian Dream party in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

The 20th anniversary of this historic event will be celebrated by the leader of the Rose Revolution in prison. Saakashvili was arrested in October 2021 and has five charges pending against him.

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

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Even critics of Saakashvili’s government agree that the Rose Revolution was a turning point in the history of the country. However, Saakashvili’s legacy is assessed differently in the country.

In 2004, Saakashvili initiated sweeping reforms: a bribe-free police force emerged, crime was radically reduced, the state budget increased almost 10-fold, power outages ceased, the country actively began to move toward European structures, and citizens no longer paid bribes for public services and university enrollment.

Georgia carried out radical reforms in the economic sphere, significantly simplifying tax legislation and business procedures. The country ranked first in ease of doing business.

At the same time, however, there were significant problems with human rights, the judicial system and private property during Saakashvili’s rule. As well as pressure on the media, the brutal dispersal of an opposition rally on November 7, 2007, and the extortion of money from big businessmen would not be a complete list of claims that Saakashvili’s opponents have made.

The blackest stain on the reputation of Saakashvili’s government remains the cover-up of the murder of bank employee Sandro Girgvliani, in which then Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili was directly implicated.

As Saakashvili’s government is currently in opposition, the current government is not celebrating the anniversary of the Rose Revolution. Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, believes that celebrating the anniversary of the revolution is “impudence” and that “the Rose Revolution brought torture to the country.”

However, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the National Democratic Institute, the majority of the Georgian population assesses the Rose Revolution as a positive event. This is the opinion of 74% of respondents who participated in the survey. Even 68% of Georgian Dream voters consider the Rose Revolution a positive event.

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Rose Revolution, JAMnews interviewed Saakashvili’s former associates, people who either directly participated in those processes or actively supported them. We asked what they think about the Rose Revolution now, two decades later, what was the main achievement and the main failure of the revolution?

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

Giga Bokeria, leader of the European Georgia Party:

I think the Rose Revolution was and is a manifestation of a very clear will of Georgian society, a will to become a modern, free state of the Western type. It was a rebellion against harmful clichés, Soviet or post-Soviet stereotypes that we are talented in sports, art and so on, but we cannot run a country, that we cannot have a country without crime, corruption, dysfunction and so on. The answer to all this was the Rose Revolution, a “mental revolution” as one reviewer called it.

And the current situation is proof that the Rose Revolution is not over. It will end when there is a complete transformation of our country into a republic returning to its natural place in Western civilization. After the final transformation within the country and the return of our historical place in this world.

The most pressing issue for society at that time was that we had failed as a nation, that dysfunction, corruption and crime were our endemic traits, etc. And I think the first phase that followed the Rose Revolution gave a very clear answer to that. As for what is needed to complete the process, it’s an independent judiciary with citizen participation. Also private property, and what is essential for a republic — decentralization in everything, self-government and separation of powers.

Failures in the above spheres were due to several factors. At that moment, our enemy, which was very weakened before, was already gaining strength, and this is always an inhibiting factor and poisons the political discussion, is an obstacle to the national agenda. In my opinion this was the biggest deterrent, but partly it was also hindered by the fact that there was either no alternative to the political team that emerged as a result of the revolution, or it committed political suicide by opposing the revolution or later by siding with Aslan Abashidze or adopting the ideology of populism.

Tina Khidasheli, head of the non-governmental organization Civic Idea, Saakashvili’s associate during the Rose Revolution:

In my opinion, the main achievement of the Rose Revolution was not the concrete results that were or were not manifested in the reforms, but the fundamental change of mood brought about by this revolution.

People had optimism and faith in their own statehood and self-confidence. This is the main achievement of the Rose Revolution and this is what is lacking, for example, in today’s Georgia.

That is why the repressive steps taken by the government after the Rose Revolution seemed particularly harsh. The authorities not only went beyond the bounds of democracy, but betrayed the great cause that was the foundation of the country’s future prospects. This was a huge disappointment and confusion, which in turn led to a pessimistic mood.

The main complaint against Mikheil Saakashvili is not that he should have done more, but that he should not have done what he did. The main claims of society about the authorities at that time were about what they did and not about what they did not do. Repressive mechanisms were set in motion despite the fact that the Rose Revolution was driven by the idea of people’s complete freedom. It was precisely because they went against freedom that we complained. By doing so, they went against the general Rose Revolution and by doing so they jeopardized the achievement of the revolution.

David Zurabishvili, political scientist, was a member of parliament in 2004-2008:

From today’s point of view, I do not see the Rose Revolution as some epochal turning point. However, it is quite possible that it was.

I am far from the opinion that before that we had no state and everything appeared after the Rose Revolution. It didn’t. However, some really significant things were done in the period after the Rose Revolution.

The Rose Revolution had a chance to put an end to the post-Soviet era and become the birth of a new, democratic Georgia. There was a chance to really move towards the formation of a civilized state of European type. Unfortunately, this was only partially realized. Yes, something was done in this direction, but not more than that.

I consider the main achievement to be the one that is least celebrated. And what they consider a great success, I don’t consider a success at all.

In fact, it was a great success — to organize the payment system, to establish public services. It was really done.

Where authoritarian methods were needed, everything worked out. But where another type of policy was needed instead of authoritarianism, it failed.

The main problem was that the government that emerged from the Rose Revolution chose to consolidate its power and postpone democratic reforms indefinitely. They said: let’s consolidate power first, concentrate it as much as possible in a narrow circle. Everything was decided by 4-5, maybe even 2-3 people.

This concentration of power led us to authoritarianism. No democratic changes started and could not start. They were afraid that the old nomenklatura was still strong and would take revenge. Although, in fact, there was no danger of revenge, because that government had a very large moral superiority, which is very difficult to achieve again.

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

Gia Nodia, political scientist, Minister of Education and Science of Georgia in 2008:

The main significance of the Rose Revolution was that it practically created a new Georgian state.

Formally at that time we had already had independence for 12 years. But there was a feeling that Georgia was a failed project. The state existed, but it was not a functional state.

And as a result of the Rose Revolution a functional state was formed. Georgia is a country that is on the map. It may not be very central and important, but it has its own image, reputation, relatively strong political orientation, etc. All this is the result of the Rose Revolution.

As for the failure or setback, it has to do with two main expectations that existed for this revolution that were not met.

One of them is territorial integrity. There were expectations and hopes, in my opinion not very well founded, that the problem of territorial integrity would be solved. These hopes were not justified and, in my opinion, there was no chance that they would be justified.

However, it should be said that significant steps have been made in this direction – the borders of the state have been established. Before that we did not even know whether Adjara was part of Georgia or not. Now this issue has been resolved.

Moreover, de facto borders were established in 2008. That process was accompanied by disappointment, because the territories that are ours under international law were not included in those borders – only 80 percent were included, and 20 percent remained outside. And that is one of the failures I talk about above.

Secondly, in 2003 it was expected that we would establish democracy, but it didn’t happen.

A functional state was formed, but this functional state is not fully democratic. It is partly democratic, partly autocratic.

I think that this expectation was exaggerated because it was connected with reforms, i.e. with building democracy from the top down. They say that a good government will emerge, it will carry out democratic reforms and thus strengthen democracy.

It is clear that the government of the National Movement (Mikheil Saakashvili’s party – JAMnews) did not always act democratically and some of its steps did not contribute to democracy. But, in general, democracy is not established by the good will of a good government. Establishing democracy requires significant social changes in the political class, strengthening of civil society in a broad sense, not just non-governmental organizations, a kind of balance between social forces.

Clearly, the National Movement was not interested in strengthening its opponents, so to speak, any more than any other government.

So, the question of establishing democracy is much more complicated than assessing a particular government.

On the whole, it is obvious that the best thing that happened in Georgia in the past 30 years are those steps and reforms that were taken in the first years after the revolution.

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution

Zurab Chiaberashvili, politician, professor at Ilia Chavchavadze University, was mayor of Tbilisi in 2004-2005:

“Today we would not be able to talk about Georgia’s European perspective and accession to the European Union if it were not for the Rose Revolution. Because all the important reforms that eventually allowed us to stand firmly on this path were realized after that revolution. And that is its first achievement.

The second thing that I consider an achievement of the Rose Revolution is that the country looked forward, not backward.

When Shevardnadze announced his resignation on November 23, 2003, Saakashvili said very important, historic words: “Now we are honored to let the President stay in Georgia and live peacefully.”

Did the government that came in the wake of the Rose Revolution have any reason to persecute Shevardnadze? Of course, there were many reasons, but that would have plunged the country into the quagmire of political persecution and political retribution that Georgian Dream has thrown us into today.

And the third achievement of the Rose Revolution is that in 2012 the government gained power through elections. If Georgian Dream had continued the same tradition and not started political persecution, we would be much ahead in all directions today.

20th anniversary of Rose Revolution