| Opposition Demands Saakashvili’s Resignation |
| / 3 Nov.'07 / 17:44 Civil Georgia |
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| Imedi TV provides live coverage of the protest rally. |
“We have added a historic demand to already existing ones,” an independent lawmaker, Levan Gachechiladze, told thousands of protesters. “We should say goodbye to Mikheil Saakashvili.”
“The opposition has fulfilled the will of the nation and announced resignation of President Saakashvili as its top priority,” Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of Labor Party, said.
“Georgia without Mikheil Saakashvili – this is our slogan,” Davit Berdzenishvili of the Republican Party said.
The announcement comes after an hour-long consultation between the opposition leaders. Protesters greeted the announcement with chanting: “Go Away, Go Away,” “Resign, Resign.”
This is the first time when the opposition leaders have demanded Saakashvili’s resignation.
So far they have been pushing for, what they called it, “moderate demands,” involving holding of parliamentary elections in spring, 2008, instead of late next year; change of election code and release of “political prisoners,” mainly referring to Irakli Batiashvili.
Opposition leaders, however, have so far been claiming that the society’s demands were much more radical and the opposition’s goal was “to contain these radical demands.”
“We have been offering to the authorities to resolve the crisis through the most civilized way – the elections. But Saakashvili is afraid of elections, because he is corrupt,” Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party told protesters.
It is windy in Tbilisi on November 3. Several thousand of people were back outside the Parliament on November 3 for a second day of protests.