An Appeal of Opposition Parties Organizing Protest Rallies to the International Community
As provided by the authors in English
7 April 2009
We the representatives of the political parties declare hereby that we are united with the Georgian people around one just cause that of forcing peacefully the voluntary resignation of the leader, who:
- Has abused power in all possible ways;
- Has started, against the will of his people, a war that made hundreds of victims in the Georgian army and among our fellow civilian citizens in Tskhinvali;
- Has lost the war against Russia that he knew could not be winnable and lost new territories;
- Has ruined Georgian economy and sold most of its assets to Russian capital;
- Has deprived his people from elementary freedoms including freedom of media;
- Has destroyed and confiscated private property;
- Has kept power through manipulation and fraud at the last presidential elections;
- Through this and by failing his country, this leader has lost legitimacy and trust from his people. He has lost the right to continue to lead this country to either another war or to worst deprivation of liberties.
We feel the duty to end this parody of democracy and return Georgia to the path that was taken in at the time of independence 20 years ago and was confirmed by the will of its people during the 2003 Revolution, the road to democracy and towards Europe.
The Georgian people, their political parties and civil organizations, will demonstrate their will to see the end of the illegitimate mandate of Mikheil Saakashvili that has cost so much to this country.
The demonstration of the supreme will of the Georgian people will be only through peaceful manifestations, starting on the 9th of April and lasting as long as needed until Mikheil Saakashvili steps down.
All constitutional guarantees that an ex-President deserves will be applied to him once his resignation has been handed over.
As soon as he defers to the will of the people, from which derive both legitimacy and the mandate to govern, all the procedures provided by the Georgian Constitution will be followed: the President of the Parliament will take over interim functions, the government will continue to expedite affairs, the date of presidential election will take place within 45 days, all state institutions will continue functioning without impediment.
We are pressing the international community to refrain from any kind of interference during this crisis:
- neither by trying to comfort a president that has lost the trust of his own people for the sake preserving stability. We have gone through that in January, 2008 when our closest friends chose stability over democracy; Saakashvili exploited this support to his personal ends, took it for a green light for all his endeavours and war followed. Since then we have had neither democracy nor real stability;
- Nor by trying to use events to foster instability. It should be clear to our northern neighbours that any noise of arms or provocation during this crucial time of transition will be taken without mistake for a sign of tacit and indirect support to Saakashvili, demonstrating that Russia favors a discredited and weak Georgian government easier to isolate.
We thank the international community and its representatives in Georgia to assist us in the task of ensuring that no outside provocations interfere with this peaceful manifestation of the Georgian nation’s to end a warmonger and authoritarian regime and move to a really democratic and truly European state.
We thank in advance the international community for advising Mikheil Saakashvili from any use of abuse of force, any act of provocation from the special services, in the same way as we will refrain from any unconstitutional action and any resort to violence.
