Opposition Claims Government Hesitant about Withdrawal of Russian Peacekeepers

Opposition parliamentarians from the New Rights, Republican and Conservative parties expressed concern regarding, as they put it, “the government’s hesitation” to demand the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers from the South Ossetian conflict zone.

After hearings at the Parliamentary Bureau on February 7, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli declined to answer questions about whether he supports the withdrawal of the Russian peacekeepers or not.

“President Saakashvili and the government are not going to demand the withdrawal of the peacekeepers. On February 15, the Parliament will pass a resolution which will envisage a demand to withdraw the peacekeepers. But the problem is that the resolution will not indicate an exact date for when this withdrawal should take place, so this will be a good reason not to fulfill this resolution,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of New Rights opposition party, said at a news conference on February 7.

But Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said that the Parliament remains determined to follow its strong-worded October 11, 2005 resolution on the peacekeepers and will discuss the issue at a session on February 15, after a series of additional consultations between the lawmakers and cabinet members have taken place.

MP Gamkrelidze said that these additional consultations are needed “just to prepare public opinion about the fact that the process of withdrawing the Russian peacekeepers will be a very long process.”