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PROTEST ACTIONS IN GEORGIA ARE COMING TO A HEAD

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ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE,
Political analyst, Tbilisi

How long the opposition’s rally in Tbilisi will last and how long can it maintain the protest mood?

Many have asked this question since the seventh day of the protest rally when it became clear that the opposition had failed to take to the streets the number of protesters, which would be a weighty argument for the authorities to effect changes.

It appears that the shortage of protesters has set the Georgian authorities at ease. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili goes through the country quite unconcerned and says that he understands the protesters’ problems.

So the opposition, which attached great importance to the 9 April protest action making itself the process hostage in some way, has two options.

The first one is to continue holding the protest actions until the authorities make a mistake using force, which can deprive them of international support and give a new impetus to the protest actions.

The second one is to negotiate with the authorities, but only through the international mediation (EU, U.S.), in order to save face and to keep the chance to democratize Georgia’s policy.

Distrust of the government is a major obstacle to carrying on the dialogue. The opposition is skeptical about the authorities’ proposal.

While Mr Saakashvili calls upon the population to be united and calm and the ruling party’s parliamentary majority offers the opposition to discuss all the issues except Mr Saakashvili’s resignation, unidentified groups of assailants beat the rally participants violently with the full connivance of the police. For the last days the protesters have been beaten regularly and not a single case has been investigated. The oppositionists believe that this way the authorities try to intimidate the rally participants and those who may intend to take part in the demonstrations to discourage them from protesting. The opposition plans to create self-defense detachments, which is highly conducive to new collisions and can make the situation even tenser.

That’s why international mediators should intervene in the crisis settlement process and acts of violence against the oppositionists should be stopped as soon as possible, otherwise the political crisis can turn into a dangerous turmoil.

April 20, 2009




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