Russian parliamentarians from the Duma Council debated on October 4 over a proposal to toughen sanctions against Georgia by authorizing the government to ban money-transfers from Russia into Georgia.
Some parliamentarians, mainly from the Liberal Democratic Party, recommended refraining from addition tough measures against Georgia on the eve of local elections there, saying that more Russian pressure on Georgia will further boost voters’ support of Saakashvili.
?Not a single measure has been taken against Saakashvili, and we are here capturing Georgians on the streets. So we, intentionally or unintentionally, are starting to be part of this stage-show [created] by Saakashvili. Now he will broadcast this discussion [at the State Duma Council] on [Georgian] television and will receive 90% of the votes in the [October 5 local self-governance] elections. He organized all this on the eve of the elections. But we have failed to figure out all the details of this Georgian show staged by Saakashvili and [Defense Minister Irakli] Okruashvili. So there is no reason at all to discuss this issue today; tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow is ok,? MP Alexey Mitrofanov from the Liberal Democratic Party said.
But parliamentarians from the Communist Party were calling for more sanctions and even condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin?s decision not to stop the process of pulling Russian bases out from Georgia.
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