Rally demands Georgian president’s resignation

Rally demands Georgian president’s resignation

The Associated Press

Sunday, March 15, 2009

TBILISI, Georgia: More than 2,500 demonstrators marched through the Georgian capital on Sunday calling for President Mikhail Saakashvili’s resignation.

Lawyers, journalists, teachers, doctors and others gathered in downtown Tbilisi to denounce what they called Saakashvili’s repressive rule, chanting "Saakashvili, go away!"

While Georgians rallied around their leader against Russia during last August’s war, many blame Saakashvili for authoritarian trends and accuse him of botching the war.

Russia recognized Georgia’s breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the war and deployed thousands of troops there.

"He lost our territories," Nukri Kantaria, a teacher, said at the rally. "If he doesn’t leave, we will lose more territories."

Georgia’s location on a key export route for Caspian Sea oil and gas has made it a target in the geopolitical struggle between Russia and the U.S.

Most of Saakashvili’s opponents share his pro-Western stance, but some say he has hurt the country’s interests by failing to forge normal relations with Russia.

Georgia’s opposition parties are preparing to launch a wave of street protests to force Saakashvili out if he doesn’t step down voluntarily by April 9. Saakashvili has rejected opposition demands and said he would serve through the end of his term in 2013.

Saakashvili has overseen economic growth and sought to decrease Russia’s influence after two centuries of domination, courting Europe and particularly the United States. But he also frightened Georgians and alienated allies with a violent crackdown on protesters in November 2007, showing what critics call a strong authoritarian streak.

Speakers at Sunday’s rally accused authorities of rigging the January 2008 vote in which Saakashvili won a second term. Many assailed the president for abusing media freedom and blamed his government for putting political opponents in jail.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/15/europe/EU-Georgia-Opposition.php