‘Polls Major Test for Georgia’ – Saakashvili
The January 5 early presidential election is “a crucial test” for Georgia and “we should prove that democracy is alive and healthy in Georgia,” incumbent presidential candidate Mikheil Saakashvili said on January 4.
His comments were made in his final campaign speech in front of thousands of supporters in the Sports Palace in Tbilisi. Saakashvili’s 25-minute speech was aired live on Rustavi 2 TV and Mze TV (the Georgian Public Broadcaster covered the first five minutes of the speech).
“Georgia is a biblical David, which is defeating Goliath,” he said. “There are still many Goliaths that need to be defeated and now it is time to attack them. Now it is time to defeat the major Goliath, which is poverty and unemployment. My goal is a united and strong Georgia, a Georgia without poverty or pessimism. I dedicate my life to achieving these goals.”
“Tomorrow we are making a crucial choice, a choice between Georgia’s future and Georgia’s past. This is a choice between backwardness and progress. Progress means getting on the highway leading us to Sokhumi. Tomorrow we will face our most important test. We should show the world, which is watching, that we are capable of remaining calm, we should show that Georgian democracy is alive and healthy and those who try to destroy Georgia’s democracy are enemies of Georgia.”
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