Defense Minister: No Necessity of Use of Force Yet

Defense Minister Davit Tevzadze said “sate of emergency does not mean that the force will be used to restore order.”

He said the President Shevardnadze, who announced state of emergency after the opposition supporters stormed the Parliament and the State Chancellery on November 22, did not ordered the troops to use force.

“The army doesn’t consider it necessary yet to use military force to establish order,” Tevzadze said.

“It is necessary to establish such a regime that would ensure the citizens’ safety until the situation is settled,” the Defense Minister said at a specially convened new briefing in the morning on November 23.

He said that the Parliament and the State Chancellery, which is the President’s office, “are still illegally seized.”

“Recent development led the process out of the constitutional frames. I don’t mean that protest rallies, I mean that there is a threat of unrest, robbery and looting,” Tevzadze said.

He said “it is necessary to establish such a regime that would ensure the citizens’ safety until the situation is settled.”