Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the opposition New Rights Party, will leave for the United States on Friday to attend the Republican convention in Minnesota next week, the New Rights Party press office said.

Gamkrelidze said in an interview with the Georgian daily Rezonansi, published on August 26, that he was supporting the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.

“In the existing situation, when Russia’s actions are becoming more and more outrageous, the United States needs a president like John McCain, who articulates policy towards Russia in a stricter and clearer manner.”

He also said in the interview that there were many questions that the Georgian authorities have to answer, adding that he would raise these questions even at the expense of being labeled “the enemy.” The Georgian authorities have been calling for unity and solidarity within Georgia in the face of the Russian occupation.

Gamkrelidze was the first opposition politician to announce “a moratorium on confrontation” with the authorities on August 8, just as armed clashes were ongoing in South Ossetia.

The New Rights Party leader also told Rezonansi that it would be “incorrect” to demand President Saakashvili’s resignation “in the next few months.”

He, however, added that he did not rule out a call for early presidential elections “after a certain period of time.”