Some in Washington suggest that current undemocratic tendencies in Georgia are merely transitional challenges and that ultimately things will improve because Saakashvili and his allies have good intentions.  Unfortunately, we cannot judge intentions - only actions and results.  To ensure that the situation does not spiral out of control, Washington should maintain a vigilant eye on Georgia and urge the new leadership to move away from its more authoritarian positions.  Giving the government a blank check and waiting for results could have very dangerous consequences.  Instead, the best move would be to nurture an environment of civil political discourse and to stop believing that Saakashvili is Georgia's "only" or "last" chance.  Fortunately, there are signs that this message is finally getting through. 

Irakly Areshidze is a political analyst based in Tbilisi and Washington.  While he provided electoral strategy advice to Georgia's opposition New Rights Party during the November 2, 2003 Parliamentary elections, views expressed in this article are exclusively his own and not of the organizations with which he is associated. 

^[1]According to the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) of November 2, 2003 elections (which were viewed as more accurate than the official results) Saakashvili's National Movement got 26.60 percent, while Zhvania's Democrats got 10.15 percent; a total of just over 1/3 (35.75 percent) of the vote.