Opposition Response to Saakashvili’s Call for Cooperation

Most of the opposition parties have said President Saakashvili call for cooperation amid “external threat” was a PR stunt ahead of the May 21 parliamentary elections.

“Saakashvili is an imposter for us,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of New Rights Party, part of the nine-party opposition bloc, said. “He has no legitimacy and he has no right to talk about these issues. So, this [meeting with him] is out of the question.”

“His proposal about meeting is a pre-election trick. He wants to show to the people, that the opposition agrees on negotiations with the authorities over certain issues. We have nothing to talk about with him,” MP Zviad Dzidziguri of the Conservative Party, also part of the nine-party bloc said.

Davit Usupashvili, the Republican leader, said his party was ready to meet with either Nino Burjanadze, the Parliamentary Chairperson, or with Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze to discuss vital issues for the country’s security, but not with President Saakashvili. The opposition continues adhering its stance of declaring Saakashvili as “illegitimate president” following the January 5 presidential election, which the opposition says was rigged.

“Mikheil Saakashvili’s proposal is an expression of pre-election agony,” Davit Usupashvili the Republican leader said in a statement. “Mr. Saakashvili remembers about the necessity for political consultations over strategic issues only once in year and when he finds himself deadlocked due to his unreasonable policies.”

Leader and founder of Industrialist Party, Gogi Topadze, said he was ready to meet with President. “Probably, the opposition has many complaints, regarding the election laws or the pressure, which is exerted today. But we should all be united in this issue [conflict regions and relations with Russia],” Topadze said.

The Labor Party has declined the proposal to meet with the President. “The only issue we can discuss with Saakashvili is his resignation,” Ioseb Shatberashvili of the Labor Party said.

Giorgi Targamadze, the leader of Christian-Democratic Party, has also brushed off the President’s proposals as a pre-election PR stunt.

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