Saakashvili Meets with Some Opposition Leaders
President Saakashvili agreed with some opposition leaders on August 6 to arrange a meeting between the opposition and the Interior Ministry leadership to address the opposition’s concerns about attacks on their activists and supporters.
Irakli Alasania, leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats party, was among those few non-parliamentary opposition leaders attending the meeting with Saakashvili and senior government officials in frames of the National Security Council session.
Saakashvili offered the opposition on July 20 to attend NSC sessions to exchange views on the country’s foreign policy and security issues. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, leader of Party of Freedom and Zurab Tkemaladze, leader of Industrialists Party and Akaki Asatiani, leader of Traditionalists party, as well as lawmakers from the parliamentary minority group and MP Petre Mamradze from the ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia, were also present.
Alasania told journalists after the meeting that along with “the foreign threats, which is our common problem, as we have to deal with the Russian aggression,” issues related with internal politics were also discussed.
“The second key issue discussed at the meeting was related with the need to stop political persecutions,” he said. “In this regard it is very positive that an agreement has been reached to hold a meeting with the leadership of the law enforcement agencies on Wednesday [August 12] to address concrete issues.”
According to opposition Movement for United Georgia party its activist in Rustavi was attacked and beaten up by masked men armed with batons on August 6 and on August 2 a man affiliated with former parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze’s party was brutally beaten by, as he said, a group of armed men in outskirts of Tbilisi.
President Saakashvili told the opposition politicians at a meeting that despite differences on many issues, they all were “united by our love towards our country and by unity in the face of our enemy.”
“We welcome that we all found force in ourselves – I mean everyone, including the government – to stand above our personal ambitions,” he said.
“I think it was very fruitful meeting and we have all seen that it is more productive when we speak with each other without loudspeakers [a reference to protest rallies],” Saakashvili said.
“Sessions of National Security Council with your [opposition’s] participation will continue and we invite other opposition leaders too in these sessions and all this is done for the purpose to make our country stronger. Our enemy would not be glad by watching all of us sitting in the same chamber… The Georgian society’s order is to find common language on key issues… and I think we have made a very important step in this direction.”
In separate remarks made in a pre-recorded interview aired by Imedi TV on August 6, Saakashvili said that the recent street protest rallies taught everyone in Georgia that “it’s impossible to come into power from back door.”
“Even Putin has failed to make the Georgian government to run away and how would Kukava have done it?” Saakashvili said referring to Kakha Kukava, co-leader of Conservative Party, one of them behind the protest rallies, which was ongoing from early April to late July.
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