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OPPOSITION URGES SAAKASHVILI TO SCHEDULE REFERENDUM ON EARLY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.02.2009 12:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two major Georgian opposition groups, the Republican
Party and the New Right party, merged on Monday to form the Alliance
for Georgia with Tbilisi's former ambassador to the UN, Irakly
Alasaniya.
At the launch, Republican Party leader David Usupashvili stressed that
the group's overall objective was the resignation of the president.
"Proceeding from that, we offer the public our candidate for president,
Irakly Alasaniya," he said.
Alasaniya, one of the most popular politicians in Georgia who has
strong ties with the United States, went on to issue an ultimatum to
President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"As President Mikheil Saakashvili does not have enough political will
to make the appropriate decision ... and step down, we give him 10
days to schedule a referendum. The president should enable Georgian
people to make a decision on the necessity of holding presidential
elections ahead of schedule," Alasaniya said.
He said that after the 10-day deadline passes, Alliance for Georgia
would begin to take concrete steps for carrying out a national
referendum.
According to Russia's Kommersant newspaper, the move marks a radical
change in the opposition's tactics, commenting that during August's war
with Russia over South Ossetia, the opposition generally supported
Saakashvili for "fear of accusations of betraying the national
interests."
Opposition to Saakashvili has been growing in Georgia since its
ill-conceived attack on the region, which maintained de facto
independence from Tbilisi since the early 1990s, in a bid to bring it
back under central control. After a five-day war to "force Georgia to
peace," Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent
states, RIA Novosti reports.
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.02.2009 12:43 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two major Georgian opposition groups, the Republican
Party and the New Right party, merged on Monday to form the Alliance
for Georgia with Tbilisi's former ambassador to the UN, Irakly
Alasaniya.
At the launch, Republican Party leader David Usupashvili stressed that
the group's overall objective was the resignation of the president.
"Proceeding from that, we offer the public our candidate for president,
Irakly Alasaniya," he said.
Alasaniya, one of the most popular politicians in Georgia who has
strong ties with the United States, went on to issue an ultimatum to
President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"As President Mikheil Saakashvili does not have enough political will
to make the appropriate decision ... and step down, we give him 10
days to schedule a referendum. The president should enable Georgian
people to make a decision on the necessity of holding presidential
elections ahead of schedule," Alasaniya said.
He said that after the 10-day deadline passes, Alliance for Georgia
would begin to take concrete steps for carrying out a national
referendum.
According to Russia's Kommersant newspaper, the move marks a radical
change in the opposition's tactics, commenting that during August's war
with Russia over South Ossetia, the opposition generally supported
Saakashvili for "fear of accusations of betraying the national
interests."
Opposition to Saakashvili has been growing in Georgia since its
ill-conceived attack on the region, which maintained de facto
independence from Tbilisi since the early 1990s, in a bid to bring it
back under central control. After a five-day war to "force Georgia to
peace," Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent
states, RIA Novosti reports.