MP from Parliamentary Minority Alleges ‘Russian Money’ Behind Planned Rallies

Gia Tortladze, a lawmaker from the parliamentary minority group, has alleged that the campaign of those opposition parities, which plan to launch protest rallies from April 9 with the demand of President Saakashvili’s resignation, was financed “with money coming from Russia.”

In this context, MP Tortladze, who chairs the Anti-Crisis Council and is also a chairman of the parliamentary faction, Strong Georgia, has made major focus on Nino Burjanadze, a former parliamentary chairperson and leader of Democratic Movement–United Georgia and also claimed Burjanadze was the key driving force behind this campaign.

“I am saying what the entire Georgia is speaking about; I am saying that lot’s of money is coming from Russia; lot’s of money is being circulating around these [planned] rallies and for setting up of offices, activists are being paid with GEL 2,000 and GEL 3,000; it is also said that Russia is ready, in case of turmoil, to come into Georgia under pretext of protecting democracy – whose democracy Russia should protect? Nino Burjanadze’s democracy? I can put it bluntly, me and my party – Democratic Party of Georgia, and I can also speak on behalf of my parliamentary faction and I think other MPs from the parliamentary minority share this position – we are not going to take part in this type of games,” MP Tortladze said in the public TV’s weekly talk show, Accent, late on March 11.

In the same talk show, Kakha Kukava, co-leader of the Conservative Party – part of the group planning to launch rallies in April, downplayed the allegation as “the authorities PR stunt.”

“That’s exactly the same allegation the opposition had been hearing just before the launch of the November, 2007 protest rallies,” he said. “MP Tortladze is repeating exactly the same allegation that we usually hear from Givi Targamadze [a senior lawmaker from the ruling party].”

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