Stalin Returns
By Countercurrents.org
22 December 2012
C
ountercurrents.org
Stalin comes back. The incident unfolds as time moves forward. The following photographs by AFP and the report * tells a bit:
A monument to the Georgian-born Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was restored in the Georgian village of Alvani on December 21, 2012 in a bid to discredit the authority of President Mikhail Saakashvili, who had it removed from its original place.
“We should not forget our past, we should not forget Stalin.” Grigol Oniani, leader of Georgia 's Communist Party, told AFP.
Dozens of people are reported to have gathered for the unveiling of Stalin statue.
Another Stalin statue was put back in its original place in Stalin's hometown of Gori. Local officials say the restoration of the statue shows that the pro-Western Saakashvili no longer has the influence and power he used to have back in 2000s.
Openly anti-Russian and pro-American Saakashvili launched his de-Stalinization campaign shortly after he came to power.
"A memorial to Stalin has no place in the Georgia of the 21st Century," President Mikhail Saakashvili once declared.
A law adopted in Georgia in 2011 banned public display of Soviet symbols and prohibited former Communist Party and KGB security service officials from holding public office, AFP reports. The same year Georgia introduced its "Soviet Occupation Day" to commemorate making Georgia part of the USSR .
Many Georgian regions however are making money from their ties to the name of Joseph Stalin and his deeds as a historical figure. His local connections attract tourists to the Georigian towns.
Saakashvili's authority has been running thinner since October when the main opposition party, Georgian Dream, won parliamentary elections with 53 percent of the vote. The richest man in the country, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili's heading the Georgian Dream alliance was made Prime Minister, AFP reports. Saakashvili will remain until presidential elections set for next year.
Today Georgia is going through a deep social and political crisis.
Joseph Stalin was born to a family of cobblers in Gori in 1878. The monuments in his honor were mostly erected in Georgia before his death in 1953.
* RT, “ Georgia rebuilds Stalin monuments to shut up Saakashvili”, http://rt.com/art-and-culture/news/stalin-monuments-georgia-rebuilt-574
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