Opposition Gears up for Election Campaign

The nine-party opposition coalition has said it will launch its election campaign on Monday to promote its presidential candidate, independent lawmaker Levan Gachechiladze.

Representatives from Republican; Conservative; Georgia’s Way; Freedom; On Our Own; Party of People; Movement for United Georgia; Georgian Troupe and National Forum parties met on Saturday to discuss campaign strategy.

Davit Usupashvili, leader of the Republican Party, however said the real election campaign would only begin once the election date had been officially confirmed by Parliament or when President Saakashvili had resigned. Although President Saakashvili said that the elections would be held on January 5, the decision has yet to be approved by Parliament. Saakashvili must, in accordance with the constitution, resign 45 days prior to polling day.

Meanwhile, within an hour of the state of emergency being lifted on November 16, the coalition renewed its attacks on President Saakashvili, calling him “the leader of an authoritarian regime,” .

A joint statement by opposition leaders was read out at a news conference outside the parliament.

They said that the Georgian people would put an end to Saakashvili’s term in office if free and democratic elections were allowed.

“Not a single step back,” the opposition leaders said. “Our joint efforts have yielded results: the leader of the authoritarian regime, Mikheil Saakashvili, will step down on November 22; money misappropriated from people by force will be used for social assistance, salaries will be increased, [the mandatory use of] cash registers has been suspended  – all this has happened because Saakashvili is trying to win the hearts and minds of the population having barbarically [dispersed] the protest rally on November 7.”

The authorities, following the political unrest and in the run-up to the presidential election, have unveiled large scale social assistance programs and announced plans to increase salaries for teachers and academics. President Saakashvili, in accordance with the constitution, must also resign on November 22 – 45 days ahead of polling day. The opposition are claiming credit for all of this, saying the government has been forced to take such actions because of opposition pressure.

The opposition leaders, in their statement, also condemned the forced closure of Imedi TV, saying it was an official attempt “to keep people in an atmosphere of misinformation.” They called on journalists from Rustavi 2 and Mze television stations “to provide objective coverage.”