TBILISI, Georgia (AFP)--Georgia's failed war with Russia and worsening economy will pose severe challenges to President Mikhail Saakashvili's government unless urgent reforms are made, a leading think tank said.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in a report issued late Wednesday that Saakashvili's administration "will be severely tested politically and economically in the winter and spring ahead."
"The opposition is asking pointed questions about whether the August war with Russia, and the ensuing economic crisis, could have been avoided," the ICG said.
The group called on Saakashvili to implement reforms promised after the war by improving social assistance, creating an independent judiciary, eliminating high-level corruption, preventing the abuse of property rights, increasing media freedom and transferring some power from the presidency to parliament and the government.
If the reforms are not implemented, Saakashvili "is likely to lose international goodwill and some of the... aid promised at the donors conference."
A global donors meeting in October pledged $4.55 billion in aid to Georgia to help the ex-Soviet republic recover from the war.
Critics have accused Saakashvili, who came to power in the bloodless "Rose Revolution" in 2003, of becoming increasingly authoritarian, concentrating power within the presidency and stifling his opponents.
The ICG said the situation around Georgia's rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia "remains tense, with violent incidents and forced displacement continuing."
It also said Russia was failing to implement ceasefire accords by not fully withdrawing to positions held before the conflict and by refusing to allow international monitors into the two rebel regions.
Russia sent troops into Georgia on Aug. 8 to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, which has received extensive backing from Moscow.
Russian forces occupied swathes of territory and bombed targets across the country, causing heavy damage to Georgia's infrastructure. Russian troops later withdrew to within South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow recognized as independent states.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2008 06:11 ET (11:11 GMT)

Publié le 27 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones