Opposition Says More Supporters to Join Rally from Provinces

More opposition supporters will arrive from the provinces later this week to join the protest rallies in Tbilisi, Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party, part of Alliance for Georgia, said on April 22.

A motorcade of hundreds of cars arrived from the regions on April 22 in a campaign which was organized by some of those parties, which are ognizers of the ongoing protests, including National Forum, Party of Freedom and Democratic Movement-United Georgia.

Tina Khidasheli told the pubic TV’s weekly program, Accents, late on Wednesday that the Alliance for Georgia will organizer arrival of its activists from the regions on April 24.

Nino Burjanadze, leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia, said that the opposition decided to mobilize and bring into the capital “only part” of its activists and supporters from provinces at this stage.

Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party also said, when asked what the opposition’s strategy was: “The shortest and the most simple answer to that question will be – Maidan,” a reference to Independence Square in the Ukrainian capital Kiev – known as Maidan – where a tent city was mushroomed leading to the Orange Revolution in January, 2005.

“The Georgian Maidan,” she continued, “these people will stand on the Rustaveli Avenue unless they achieve the goal. People stood for month and a half on Kiev’s Maidan – whether it will require more than that or less, but we will stand on the Rustaveli Avenue as long as needed, as well as ‘cells’ will be there – ‘cells’ which are the best expression of a condition in which the country is now – the entire country is now in a cell,” she said.

“We have the only strategy – to defeat the authorities through our firmness,” Khidasheli added.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)