Opposition, Ruling Party Clash over Timing of Events
Lawmakers from the ruling party have alleged that the opposition deliberately scheduled a planned protest rally in Tbilisi for November 2, when the capital is due to host a high-profile international conference.
?We are expecting presidents and foreign ministers from several foreign countries to participate in this event,? Kote Gabashvili, an MP from the ruling party and chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign relations, said. He didn’t, however, specify which presidents were to attend.
He said that the conference would be about ?democracy development,? while other lawmakers from the ruling party said it would be ?a NATO conference.?
Although news of the planned conference only broke on October 9, a lawmaker from the ruling party, Nino Kalandadze, said the event had been planned ?long ago.? MP Nino Kalandadze added that the opposition had deliberately planned its rally on the same day.
A group of ten opposition parties announced its intention to hold a protest rally outside Parliament on October 2, when they launched a campaign to demand early parliamentary elections in April, instead of late 2008.
Opposition politicians have alleged that the authorities are employing ?counter measures? with, what they call, an urgently organized high-profile conference.
?Nobody knew anything about this conference until now,? Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party said. ?We would welcome if leaders of several foreign countries were to visit Georgia on November 2, because they would see with their own eyes what the current mood among the population is.?