Opposition again dissatified with Public Broadcaster

TBILISI, Georgia – Yet again, opposition leaders are unhappy with Georgia Public Broadcasting.

 

Saturday afternoon, opposition leaders for the third time in four days have gone to the public television station to demand more and better coverage of anti-government protests. On Wednesday, leaders demanded non-stop live coverage of the protests from 2-8 p.m. daily. On Thursday, when the broadcaster had only shown the protests during it’s regularly scheduled news hours, protesters marched angrily on the office. Tension was defused when Levon Gachechiladze and other leaders met with the channel’s general director, and negotiated more specifically focused times for coverage.

 

Saturday, Georgian People’s Party leader Koba Davitashvili entered into negotiations with TV channel director Levan Kubaneishvili, this time with demands to cover live, one-hour long “informational meetings” that will be held every day at 8 p.m.

 

After leaving the negotiations, Davitashvili announced that one person of opposition will permanently monitor “how objectively” the first channel is covering news.

 

“They promised that today at 8 p.m. when we are planning an informational meeting they are going to broadcast it live, we are not struggling with journalists we demand from their leadership to broadcast everything what happens,” said Davitashvili.

 

At this moment the whole wave of people marched in front of broadcasting company “Rustavi – 2” to protest the way this television is covering oppositional meetings.  They have not yet been granted a meeting with that station’s directors.

 

Television news stations in the Soviet Union were considered instruments of the state and mouthpieces of the government, a practice that carries into many former Soviet Republics even today. In Georgia, Georgia Public Broadcasting is the former government channel. Since 2003’s Rose Revolution, though, President Mikheil Saakashvili has commandeered Rustavi2, a privately owned news station, as the news channel to broadcast his message. 

Opposition and Public Broadcaster reach the agreement

Protesters in front of Television on April 9. Photo by Keti Ebanoidze

TBILISI, Georgia – Tension between the protesters and security of Georgian Public Broadcaster ended Thursday afternoon with the successful negotiation between the oppositional leaders and General Director of Public TV.

 

 

After a little discord among the representatives of the security office and protesters, who tried to forcefully intrude on the TV Company, the agreement was reached easily, said both TV and opposition representatives.

 

“We were covering the demonstration anyway. Simply they have not seen our information, and when we showed them they agreed to continue us in the same way, and try to be more objective,” said Teona Enukidze, Deputy to the General Director of Georgian Public Broadcaster.

 

On Wednesday, opposition leaders demanded that the TV station show live, non-stop coverage of the day’s demonstration, between 2-8 p.m. The disagreement on Thursday was started when the television station broadcast the protests only during their regularly scheduled news hours at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.

 

Protesters left a mostly mild demonstration after 4 p.m. and headed back to the television station, where several people tried to force their way past a line of armed guards. A tense few minutes followed, defused when several protest leaders, including former presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze, entered the station to negotiate for more coverage.

 

Enukidze reported they agreed upon the following points:

 

·        Public Broadcaster should broadcast full speech of the Georgian Patriarch.

·        The speeches of Oppositional leaders should be maximally broadcasted.

·        Opposition parties should permanently participate in talk shows.

·        Special statements at the protest should be broadcasted in live in any case.

 

After leaving the building of the Public Broadcaster, member of United Opposition Levan Gachechiladze announced: “Our demands are fulfilled. At 8 p.m. in the news program of the first channel of Georgia, the entire process of the April 9^th protest will be covered.”

Opposition’s Pre-protest Preparation: Broadcast … what?

Kakha Kukava and Eka Beselia of the Movement for a United Georgia reading their demands to Georgia Public Broadcasting on Wednesnday, April 8. Photo by Giorgi Pkhachiashvili

TBILISI, Georgia – On Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m., the oppositional parties Movement for the United Georgia and the Conservative Party managed to gather in front of Georgian Public Broadcaster demanding that the former government-owned, current public TV station, broadcast the next day’s 9^th April protests against the Saakashvili administration live.

But what exactly will the TV station be showing on April 9?

A day before the big event, the Georgian opposition parties are still unwilling – or perhaps unable – to talk about specific plans for the march.

Leaders like Eka Beselia, leader of Movement for a United Georgia, were more interested in making demands for TV coverage.

The movement led by former Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who now lives in exile in Paris, made an announcement for the journalists and passed their statement in written form to chancellery with the following demands: “The protest should be broadcasted live from 2p.m. till 8 p.m.”

They also demanded that the first channel should broadcast all the important decisions and announcements that the 13 opposition leaders participating in Thursday’s demonstrations will make. They also demanded to be given equal time to both the opposition and the authorities in the informational and analytical programs.

The day was mostly quiet, but there were a few pre-protest activities:

· There were no live broadcast but there were a lot of journalists in front of the parliament at one o’clock when The Movement for the United Georgia and Conservators gathered there in order to honor the memory of the victims of 9^th April in1989.

· Some people from the Public Defender’s Office and Public Advocacy attended the ceremonial. They put the flowers near the huge stone in front of the parliament, which is a memorial for the victims of 9^th April 1989. They also lit candles for their memory.

· After leaving the letter at the Presidential Residence with the claim not to use weapon during the protest, young people from “Why?” movement came with the signs. Young people with white shirts also made a human chain in the middle of Rustaveli Avenue. They had the posters with slogans: “Why Misha?” “Why dictator?” The participants met them with applauses. And the drivers joined them with signals.

On Thursday, April 9, more than dozen oppositional parties will start marching from three different places and at 2 p.m. they will join in front of Parliament. They will start from the President’s Residency in Avlabari, from Georgian Public Broadcaster and from Tbilisi State University. Democratic movement – United Georgia will gather at 12 o’clock near the State University and will move to the Parliament. Labor party will go straight to the Parliament. Young people from the April 9^th headquarters will start their 9^th April protest in front of the Parliament at midnight.

Ketevan Vashagashvili, Giorgi Pkhachiashvili, Keti Ebanoidze, Ia Gavasheli, Arevyk Badalyan, Marinka Gharibashvili