Natelashvili Calls for TV Debates with Saakashvili

Shalva Natelashvili, a presidential candidate and leader of the Labor Party, called on his main rival, Mikheil Saakashvili, to participate in a live televised debate with him.

?People should decide who is right and who is wrong between me and Saakashvili after a 13-year-old rivalry between us,? Natelashvili said on January 2.

He promised, if Saakashvili? accepted his invitation, to observe ?all norms of ethics and politeness.?

The International Foundation of Election Systems (IFES), with the support of USAID, had tried in vain to organize the first-ever TV debates between the leading presidential candidates. The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has been running a series of programs, which initially were designed to be presidential debates, but eventually turned into debates between various campaign representatives.

All opposition presidential candidates say that they will participate in the debates only if Saakashvili participates too. Saakashvili said in a televised interview on November 25 that he was amenable to ?an issue-based debate.? Unlike other opposition candidates, Giorgi Maisashvili, an underdog presidential candidate, has been calling for debates with any candidate.

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