Opposition Consults to Find Common Ground

Opposition parties boycotting Parliament will hold “a serious conference” to coordinate efforts on “how Saakashvili can be replaced and what will happen next,” Davit Gamkrelidze, the leader of the opposition New Rights Party, said on October 2.

“We are already holding consultations and plan to hold a serious political conference on finding ways out of the current crisis and on a joint action plan. All ways lead to changing the Saakashvili administration,” Gamkrelidze said on a Kavkasia TV talk show.

He acknowledged that there was disagreement among the opposition parties on tactics, with some – including the Republican Party and Conservative Party – supporting a more moderate stance, saying that demanding President Saakashvili’s immediate resignation will not be effective at this stage, and instead early parliamentary elections – tentatively next spring – should be held. Such elections – these parties say – should be administered by international organizations.

“We, the New Rights Party, however, believe that it is impossible to hold free and fair elections under the Saakashvili [presidency],” Gamkrelidze said. “And the west can hardly act as a guarantor of fair elections, as we have already seen what kind of guarantor the west can be during the May 21 parliamentary elections. International observers published a final report on those elections just recently, after the August events.”

Kakha Kukava, co-leader of the Conservative Party, said on the same TV program on October 2 that street protest rallies were a last resort.

“We want a civilized dialogue with the authorities,” Kukava said, adding that this dialogue should lead to genuine reforms, including of the election system. He also said that the opposition would have no option other than to launch protest rallies if the authorities failed to engage in dialogue with the opposition.

He also said he was “very disappointed” by the statement made by President Saakashvili on October 1. Saakashvili told journalists that Georgia now had “the healthiest political system ever.” He said that the government was united and the parliamentary minority was constructively cooperating with the authorities.

Opposition parties boycotting Parliament in protest at what they call the falsified May 21 parliamentary elections have denounced politicians and parties in the parliamentary minority as the government’s “satellite parties.”

“This statement by Saakashvili was an indication that the chances of holding dialogue is reducing every day,” Kukava said, adding that the authorities seemed to have no intention of engaging with “the real opposition.”

Gamkrelidze said he believed dialogue with the Saakashvili administration would fail to bring any results. “The authorities would not compromise through dialogue,” he said. “The only language these authorities understand is the one of protest rallies.”

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