Georgians rally against Saakashvili

This is from Aljazeera.

It remains to be seen whether the protests will actually bring down the govt. or if people will tire of them and the president will be able to repress the opposition. Certainly the economy is bad and the war brought nothing but grief to Georgians.

Georgians rally against Saakashvili
Opposition protesters have said they will continue to rally until Saakashvili resigns as president [AFP]
Thousands of people have rallied in the streets of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, for a third day of protests aimed at pressuring President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign.
A coalition of opposition parties led the demonstration on Saturday in front of parliament, continuing what they call a "national disobedience campaign".
The protests came a day after more than 25,000 people had gathered at the same location.
"We have come to a joint conclusion to show the government in a peaceful way that we are not just a small group of Tbilisi residents who want changes, that the whole of Georgia is with us," Irakly Alasania, an opposition leader, said.
"Today we have realised that if we ourselves do not take back control of our country, do not return our statehood, then we will have to face this problem for many years to come."
Saakashvili has rejected the calls to resign and has offered to hold talks with the opposition.
"There is poverty in the country which has been aggravated by the war and the economic crisis and our citizens are angry today because of these problems. I am angry too," he said on Friday.
"It is not easy to overcome all of this ... It requires unity and dialogue."
Opposition determined
Koba Davitashvili, an opposition leader from the People's Party, said on Saturday that protesters would not waver in their calls for the president to leave office.
"There will be no dialogue with Saakashvili. Dialogue is possible on only one issue: his resignation."
Giorgi Kandelaki, a member of Georgia's parliament, told Al Jazeera that while Saakashvili would not step down, there was a need to address issues raised by the opposition.
"This protest once more shows that the government should redouble its effort to broaden political dialogue, which is ongoing with the opposition," Kandelaki said.
Protests began on Thursday, when at least 60,000 people gathered outside parliament, waving flags and chanting "resign".Opposition leaders, angry at Saakashvili's handling of last year's Russia-Georgia war and accusing him of failing to deliver promised democratic reforms, have said they will carry on protesting until he resigns.
David Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rights party, said: "If [Saakashvili] does not accept our demands, we will intensify pressure and the protests will be sharper, not only outside parliament but in other places as well, for example outside the presidency."
Tired of protests
Matthew Collin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tbilisi, said despite the protests, there were signs that Saakashvili still had an element of popularity.
"A lot of Georgians simply want stability," he said.
In video
Georgia's president vows to fight on"They are tired of endless protests in the street, they want to get on with their lives and they want the economy to develop, and they feel political unrest won't allow that to happen."
Opposition to Saakashvili has been growing since the Russia-Georgia war, in which Georgia was defeated.
The conflict has emboldened opponents who argue that Saakashvili has made too many mistakes to remain in power until 2013.
Critics have also accused him of betraying the democratic reforms promised in the 2003 Rose Revolution, in which he came to power.
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Georgian Opposition Urges Saakashvilis Ouster

This was bound to happen after the Russian withdrawal and things settled down a bit. At the time of the Russian incursion everyone felt they had to support Saakashvili but now the reality of the losses and setbacks that Georgia suffered are sinking in. Of course Saakashvili hopes that US aid will prop him up and rebuild his military. It very well could because there is absolutely no sign that the US is changing its policy of encircling Russia with unfriendly states propped up by the US and linked with them eventually through NATO. Imagine if Mexico, Canada, and Cuba joined in a defence pact headed by Russia and were all hostile to the U.S.
This is from antiwar.com.


Georgian Opposition Urges Saakashvili’s Ouster
Posted September 9, 2008
Georgia’s brief war with Russia is over, and though President Mikheil Saakashvili is eying future wars with Russia, his attention must turn now to a more immediate problem. While most Georgians rallied behind the government during the fighting, the sobering effect of post-war reality has left many Georgians questioning the wisdom of provoking a war with their enormously larger and more powerful neighbor to the north.
Emboldened by the turn in popular opinion, Georgia’s opposition has called for President Saakashvili’s ouster. Opposition leader David Gamkredlidze declared that the president no longer had any right to his position, saying “Despite numerous warnings Saakashvili unilaterally took the criminal and irresponsible decision to shell Tskhinvali, which led to catastrophic consequences for the country”.
The war destroyed much of Georgia’s military, displaced a large number of civilians along the border and severed a key rail link with Azerbaijan. It also placed the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, already enjoying large measures of de facto independence, completely out of Georgian control with Russia formally recognizing the independence of both.
Bolstered by very public messages of support from the west however, President Saakashvili has remained confident, vowing to reclaim the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Speaking this weekend, Saakashvili said he expected the rest of the world to unite against Russia and restore his country’s “territorial integrity”. On the question of provoking a war with Russia, President Saakashvili also claimed today to have presented “very solid proof” to the European Union that Russia had actually started the war. Mysteriously, Saakashvili has chosen to keep this proof a secret, which will likely lead to questions about its veracity.