Georgia's Opposition Rejects Truce Call

Georgia’s opposition has rejected proposals by President Mikheil Saakashvili intended to end a months-long demonstration by activists that has paralysed the capital, and promised a new wave of protest.



Opposition protesters occupied the central Rustaveli Avenue, which runs past parliament in central Tbilisi, for four months. They opened the road last week, but it remains lined with barred tents intended to symbolise the prison that they say the country has become under Saakashvili.



Saakashvili, whose resignation they have been demanding, made a long-promised speech on July 20, hoping to entice the activists’ leader into negotiations.



“The illegal occupation of the streets was allowed for more than three months in order to preserve calm and avoid clashes. But now we all have a collective interest in moving the central area of public debate from the streets into our parliament, our electoral system, and our system of governance,” the president said, appealing to the activists to come off the streets.



He invited opposition leaders to take part in the National Security Council, promised to give more powers to parliament and the courts; secure the freedom of the press; bring forward local elections from autumn to spring 2010 and introduce a directly elected mayor or Tbilisi.



“Reform. Reform. Reform. This is the only path to transforming Georgia into a trustworthy partner for our allies, uniting our people and our country around issues of vital concern to us. In this way, we can make Georgia even more attractive for investors, both Georgians as well foreigners, thus leading to more jobs and sustained economic growth,” he said.



But if he hoped to placate his opponents, who said they had hoped for more specific and extensive proposals, he was disappointed.



Giorgi Targamadze, leader of the parliamentary minority, said the president’s speech was “just another publicity stunt on the eve of the visit to Georgia by US vice-president Joe Biden”.



As for the opposition, which has been demanding immediate elections for both parliament and the presidency, it was loud in its disapproval.



“Expectations were dashed that the president would, at the end of the day, understand that there is a crisis in the country, and dialogue needs to be restarted in a new way. This talk about dialogue is completely pointless, because he offers nothing genuine to the opposition,” said Salome Zurabishvili, leader of the Georgia’s Way party.



She and other opposition leaders promised more protests to show Saakashvili they were not seduced by his promises. The new wave of protests, they warned the government, could prove even angrier than the first.



“In the autumn the acts of protest will take a sharper form. If the authorities do not seriously consider what is happening and do not start to really look at the problem, there is a probability that the people will get out of the opposition’s control,” said Bezhan Gunava, another opposition leader.



All the leaders were hoping to persuade Vice-President Biden of the justice of their cause, and hoped he would put pressure on Saakashvili during a lengthy bilateral meeting on July 23.



“Sadly, the only lever to affect the Georgian authorities is the desires of the West, particularly the United States,” said Giorgi Akhvlediani, leader of the Christian Democrats group in parliament.



“The authorities only take into account the opinion of the international community, and not that of their own people.”



There was encouragement for both sides in Biden’s words when he addressed parliament. He chided Saakashvili, but also urged the opposition to return to legal tactics in their stand-off with the government.



“Your Rose Revolution will only be complete when government is transparent, accountable, and fully participatory; when issues are debated inside this chamber, not only out on the streets; when you fully address key constitutional issues regarding the balance of power between the parliament and the executive branch, and levelling your electoral playing field; when the media is totally independent and professional, providing people the information to make informed decisions, and to hold their government accountable for the decisions it makes; when the courts are free from outside influence and the rule of law is firmly established, and when the transfer of power occurs through peaceful, constitutional, and democratic processes, not on the street,” he said.



But some commentators say the opposition has not provided a sufficiently coherent vision of its aims, and that Saakashvili’s plans are the only ones ready for implementation, meaning any dialogue between the two sides is unlikely to produce anything worthwhile.



“Today, the opposition’s main weakness is that it does not demonstrate a clearly worked out vision on the main questions. It is not clear what these parties would do if they came to power. Both the old and the new opposition parties have to clearly formulate their plan of action and explain them to western partners,” said Vladimir Papava, a political expert.



His words found echoes on the streets of Tbilisi, where ordinary residents were losing patience with the activists who have disrupted their lives for months without any result.



“I live not far from Rustaveli Avenue, and it has been several months now that I’ve not been able to use public transport, and I’m scared to let my daughter leave the house in the evenings. If they start their protests again in the evenings, I’ll have to move in with my relatives in a different region,” said Tamar Beridze, a Tbilisi resident.



Lena Iremashvili is the editor of Alania television, Tbilisi.