"Opposition must convince people that it can govern Georgia well" - opinion

Gia Nodia on the Georgian opposition

Political scientist Gia Nodia writes about the latest developments among the Georgian opposition.

“There are three misconceptions about the priorities of the opposition:

(1) The opposition must convince the people that the current government is untenable;

(2) The opposition must unite;

(3) The opposition must get the masses out into the streets to change the regime.

In fact, the real and main priority is to convince as many people as possible that it can run the country better than the current government.

I know that is difficult, especially in the current undemocratic regime. But if this is not done, there is no point in concentrating on the first three. And over the past year, the opposition has only been moving away from this goal.

The root of the opposition’s mistakes is that it pays too much attention to its relatively active supporters, who seem to be few in number.

The victory comes from focusing on the less politically active who make up the majority of society. These people talk simply and pragmatically: “We know that this government is garbage. But what is the opposition doing?

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