Senior MP: Opposition’s Tactic Unproductive

MP Petre Tsiskarishvili, the leader of parliamentary majority, said the opposition would fail to achieve its goals through street protest rallies.

MP Tsiskarishvili, who participated in a meeting between the opposition leaders and President Saakashvili on May 11, told journalists: “We have clearly explained to the representatives of radical opposition, that we understand that there are certain problems in the country. But we have also clearly explained that it would be impossible for them to use street rallies and ‘cells’ for mounting pressure on the authorities and for blackmailing the authorities.”

“Elections – parliamentary, presidential and local elections – will be held as planned in their original dates,” MP Tsiskarishvili added.

An influential mayor of Tbilisi, Gigi Ugulava, said on May 11 that the authorities had “a concrete roadmap on how to overcome the existing problems through evolution, without any disorders and without external interferences.”

Speaking with journalists, before the meeting between President Saakashvili and the opposition leaders, Ugulava said that launch of a dialogue was “very important.” He said that any instability will harm the economy and “each citizen.”

“We understand it very well and I am sure that all those persons in the opposition, who have a sense of responsibility to their own country, will also fully understand it,” he added.

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