Opposition, Government Hail Launch of Talks

Both opposition and ruling party leaders welcomed on Monday the resumption of dialogue and pledged to continue it in an attempt to address concrete issues.

?At this meeting we laid out a list of problems which need to be immediately addressed,? Davit Usupashvili, the leader of the Republican Party, said. ?Although no concrete results have been reached at this point, the fact in itself that talks lasted for two and a half hours indicates that this meeting was not just a formality.?

Along with Usupashvili, Kakha Kukava, leader of the Conservative Party; Salome Zourabichvili, leader of Georgia?s Way Party; MP Davit Gamkrelidze and MP Mamuka Katsitadze, both from the New Rights Party, and Zurab Tkemaladze, the leader of the Industrialist Party participate in the meeting.

Nino Burjanadze, the parliamentary chairperson; Vice-Speaker Mikheil Machavariani; MP Giga Bokeria and MP Maia Nadiradze represented the government.

?Our [the opposition’s and the government’s] positions on some of the issues moved closer, but many problems still remain to be discussed and I hope we will be able to resolve all the major problems ? ranging from lifting emergency rule to electoral issues ahead of the early presidential elections ? in a short period of time,? Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the New Rights Party, said.

?It is early to talk about concrete results,? Salome Zourabichvili, leader of Georgia?s Way Party, said. ?But it is positive in itself that a dialogue has been launched. We have been pushing for issues related to the state of emergency and restrictions on the media?

Nino Burjanadze, the parliamentary speaker, said the launch of a dialogue was ?a very positive? sign.

?The upcoming election was one of the major issues pushed for by the opposition,? Burjanadze said after the talks. ?I want to stress that we will spare no efforts to ensure free and transparent elections and to secure equal conditions for both the opposition [presidential] candidates and the government one.?

She also called on the international community to send ?as many observers as possible? to monitor the elections, expected to be held on January 5.

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