State Of Emergency In Georgia

[_femme333_]

State of emergency in nation of Georgia By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer

15 minutes ago

 

 

 

TBILISI, Georgia - U.S.-allied President Mikhail Saakashvili declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the capital of Georgia, where six days of demonstrations have fueled a worsening crisis.

 

Saakashvili has blamed Russia for fomenting the unrest in the former Soviet nation. His prime minister, Zurab Nogaideli, said in a televised statement that there had been an effort to overthrow the pro-Western government.

 

"An attempt to conduct a coup was made, and we had to react to that," Nogaideli said.

 

The emergency declaration "will temporarily ban demonstrations and protests, and calls in the media for violence, and the ouster of the government by force," Nogaideli said.

 

He said that the presidential decree would be submitted to parliament for approval within the next two days as required by the constitution.

 

Riot police earlier used tear gas and water cannons to break up demonstrations, before bursting into the offices of a pro-opposition television station that went off the air moments later.

 

Georgia's Imedi television station describes itself as independent but is seen as a key opposition mouthpiece by authorities. It has carried statements by opposition leaders and broadcast footage of police breaking up protests Wednesday. More than 100 people were hospitalized after police drove opposition demonstrators from two protests in the capital, Tbilisi. Police used truncheons on some protesters and rubber bullets at one demonstration.

 

"Riot police are here, something horrible is going on," the Imedi announcer said before the station went off the air.

 

The Interior Ministry said it would put out a statement on the situation at Imedi later in the day.

 

"Journalists aren't in danger, they will be allowed to go home," ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told The Associated Press.

 

Salome Zurabishvili, a former foreign minister who is now an opposition leader, said she was inside Imedi's headquarters when more than 100 police broke into the building and took control.

 

The demonstrations in Tbilisi have created the gravest challenge for Saakashvili since he was propelled to power in the 2003 Rose Revolution mass protests.

 

Saakashvili said in a televised address that Russian spy agencies were behind the protests and that three Russian diplomats were being expelled because of espionage activities.

 

Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed Saakashvili's claims as an "irresponsible provocation" and said they were an attempt to distract attention from domestic problems.

 

Zurabishvili said that the shutdown of Imedi means that Georgia no longer has independent television because Rustavi 2 television, which is technically independent, has toed the official line.

 

Imedi was founded by Badri Patarkatsishvili, a prominent businessman who authorities claim is behind the protests against President Mikhail Saakashvili. Patarkatsishvili earned his fortune in Russia during the turbulent 1990s, but he returned to his native Georgia in 2000.

 

Patarkatsishvili recently handed over his controlling stake in Imedi to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., saying he wants to focus on supporting opposition parties.

 

The main demonstration Wednesday was in a street outside Parliament, where Saakashvili opponents have gathered since Friday, first to demand changes in election schedules and legislation and then to demand his resignation.

 

As police advanced, protesters retreated down Tbilisi's main avenue. Police fired tear gas from the beds of pickup trucks. Many wore gas masks, and live television broadcasts showed several people choking, including police. Scattered fist fights broke out between uniformed police and protesters.

 

Later, riot police again used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to break up another demonstration in downtown Tbilisi. Some police used truncheons to beat protesters who clambered over the city's walls, threw stones and taunted police.

 

About 360 people sought medical assistance, and more than 100 of them have remained hospitalized, Health Ministry spokeswoman Nino Kochorashvili told The Associated Press.

 

Saakashvili said he regretted the use of force, but argued that it was necessary to prevent the country from sliding into chaos.

Edited November 7, 2007 by _femme333_

[Eva]

My aunt bought tickets to go to Tbilisi to visit relatives, now I think she doesn't even know to go or not...This is crazy..There is so much hatred in people...........

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Gamarjobad,

 

doprigalisj...

[Arpa]

Gamarjobad,

 

doprigalisj...

So. Comrade Mikhail thought he had a big enough "finger" to scare Uncle Vlad away!

Maybe Uncle Vlad will see it fit to revive Ossetia, Abkhazia and Javakh, reduce Tiflis to a village, leaving the south eastern US state known as Georgia, make Yerevan a suburb of Moscow.

Speaking of big "fingers" look at this story

OSKANYAN'S MIDDLE FINGER AND THE FOREIGN POLICY

Lragir.am

08-11-2007 15:04:31

Every year the heads of the foreign diplomatic representations of

Armenia gather in Armenia for a conference and usually they also

visit Karabakh.

This year the participants of the conference visited Gandzasar

Monastery in Karabakh and were hosted by Pastor Hovanes. During

the dinner Reverend Hovanes made a toast. He drank to the soldiers

who are at the front line defending the border and compared them to

diplomats. He said a soldier cannot retreat, neither can the diplomats,

they cannot retreat. We have learned from our source from the foreign

ministry of Armenia that during the dinner a bumblebee stung the

middle finger of the foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan. Meanwhile,

sticking this finger up is a gesture the meaning of which is known to

everyone. It inspired the guests of the event to wish the Armenian

foreign policy to be like the meaning of this gesture. They say the

guests of the event advised our foreign minister to put his finger in

yogurt to relieve the pain. Our source says Vardan Oskanyan followed

the advice on all the way to Yerevan.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Arpa

[AVO]

Georgia's president moves up elections

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Saakashvili's announcement seems to defuse crisis that has gripped the capital, Tbilisi, for almost a week. Opposition leaders called off further protests.

By Kim Murphy, Times Staff writer

10:47 AM PST, November 8, 2007

MOSCOW -- Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili eased the crisis that has gripped the country for the past week by pledging today to hold presidential elections on Jan. 5 and a referendum on voting for a new parliament.

 

A day after the fledgling pro-Western government's democratic credentials were badly bruised by a violent crackdown against thousands of opposition demonstrators, Saakashvili surprised even his opponents by agreeing to go to the polls within two months.

 

Opposition leaders called off further protests, and the political street fight that has gripped the nation since 70,000 citizens occupied the street outside parliament Nov. 2 appeared to be nearing an end. With hundreds of soldiers blocking off streets in the capital of Tbilisi, schools closed and independent news broadcasts shut down, government officials signaled that the 15-day state of emergency declared Wednesday could be lifted sooner if calm prevails.

 

"What happened yesterday is what we wanted to avoid: to cast a shadow on Georgia and its international position--something which we wanted to avoid at all costs," Saakashvili said in a televised address.

 

"I made the decision to move the date of presidential elections to Jan. 5, 2008. I as a ruler need a full mandate from you to face all challenges and external threats, and to continue the process of building the country," he said. "The door of democracy is open. I as president guarantee that this door will never be closed."

 

The president acted after a day of criticism from international human rights organizations and NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who called for all parties to "exercise restraint, avoid violence, and act within the law."

 

He said the imposition of emergency law and closure of media outlets was "of particular concern, and not in line with Euro-Atlantic values." Georgia hopes to become a member both of NATO and of the European Union.

 

Zviad Dzidziguri, a leader of the opposition Conservative Party, appeared on public television and called the president's announcement "a victory of the Georgian people," and other opposition leaders signaled the protest rallies were at an end.

 

Georgy Khaindrava, a former Saakashvili ally who helped lead the past week's protests, said dissidents are "satisfied" with the president's decision.

 

"We are calling off all protest action, and will be preparing for the election and the referendum, hoping they will be clean and fair," he said in a telephone interview.

 

He said Saakashvili should have made the announcement on Nov. 2, when the initial protests began, rather than wait and order the crackdown with truncheons, tear gas and rubber bullets that injured hundreds of citizens and some police.

 

"We would have been grateful to him then, and he would have preserved his legitimacy. But he chose violence instead. He behaved not as the president of Georgia should," Khaindrava said. "He is going to reap the harvest of people's anger at the polls in January."

 

But government leaders said they had managed to defuse a crisis and seize the political initiative from opponents they continue to assert are manipulated by the Russian government, with which Georgia has been at odds since it took its course toward NATO and the West with the 2003 Rose Revolution.

 

"This is a great strategic move on the part of the president by which he completely grabbed the initiative from the hands of the opposition," said Konstantin Gabashvili, a member of Saakashvili's party and chairman of the parliament committee on foreign relations.

 

"The opposition leaders were accusing the president of usurping power and grabbing democracy. They were about to violently overthrow the legitimate government when the president firmly stepped in and by one bold decision demonstrated that Georgia is a democratic country, and that all power in Georgia belongs to the people," he said in a telephone interview.

 

Saakashvili continued to call "totally unacceptable" the opposition's original demand to move up parliament elections to their original date in April. Parliament, dominated by the president's allies, had amended the constitution to hold both parliament and presidential elections in October.

 

The new schedule will allow the date of parliament elections to be determined by referendum. But it was not immediately clear how the election changes would be implemented.

 

Saakashvili did not announce his resignation, a move which would trigger new elections within 45 days and allow the speaker of parliament to act as president in the interim. Analysts said the president's only other alternative is to seek another constitutional amendment to hold presidential elections in January.

 

By scheduling elections so quickly, some analysts said, Saakashvili may be counting on the opposition having difficulty mustering an effective political campaign in a matter of weeks.

 

"The time left before the new election date is very short, and I am not confident that the opposition can prepare for it properly and agree on a single candidate to challenge Saakashvili," Ramaz Sakvarelidze, director of the Center for Public Projects, a Tbilisi think tank, said in a telephone interview.

 

"In any case, the crisis is temporarily defused," he said. "Both sides claim victory, and can take a break and think what they should do now."

 

 

Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko in Moscow and special correspondent Tiko Ninuao in Tbilisi contributed.

Edited November 8, 2007 by Avo47

[AVO]

Looks like its over

[_femme333_]

I say he's out of the office sometime in January.

It's funny to know that Saakashvili thought that he has the balls to actually show Moscow the "finger".

USA is too far away to rescue him now. I've heard that Georgians in general are dumb, but not up to this point!

This should let the CIA know that no US troops are wanted or needed in the Caucasus, and the faith of any puppet presidents will be similar to Saakashvili's faith!

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Well whoever will be the next president of Georgia beside Saakashvili, he is going to be the puppet of Russia. Perhaps small countries are always puppets of big ones. That's the law of survival in international politics.

 

The question is now who is going to benefit, what will be the result from the leader/epoch change in the region.

[Dave]

HAHA @ the Georgian name Zviad Dzidziguri

[_femme333_]

HAHA @ the Georgian name Zviad Dzidziguri

 

 

Indeed HA HA

[AVO]

 

Dzi Dzi payte dzi

*

mer drane kapetsi

ov vor uni ayspes dzi

togh ga indz het na mrtsi

 

*communist propaganda removed (karmir guyni nerketsi)

 

[AVO]

You know its not really neighborly of us to make fun of them, but they'll get over it. Its not like they went thru a war and we didn't help them. Or backstabed them, by building a railroad with sole intention was to bypass them.

[_femme333_]

You know its not really neighborly of us to make fun of them, but they'll get over it. Its not like they went thru a war and we didn't help them. Or backstabed them, by building a railroad with sole intention was to bypass them.

 

 

That's exactly why we should enjoy this while it lasts!

[MosJan]

Saakashvili to resign November 22

09.11.2007 15:13 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The political crisis in Georgia has shown the first signs of receding as opposition figures have overwhelmingly welcomed President Saakashvili’s decision to call snap presidential elections for January 5.

 

Mikhael Saakashvili will, in accordance with the constitution, have to resign 45 days ahead of polling day – on November 22.

 

Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze will assume act as President until the results of the January 5 elections are announced. She used to hold the post after the resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze up to Saakashvili’s inauguration in January 2004.

 

“The president’s recent address is of historic importance,” Salome Zourabichvili, ex-foreign minister and leader of Georgia’s Way Party, said. “This was the only right decision and the country will definitely benefit.”

 

She also said that the international community “has played a vital role” in this process. “Our western partners have demonstrated that they are not friends of one particular government, but are friends of the entire country and Georgian democracy,” Zourabichvili added.

 

The ten opposition parties which led the recent protest campaign signed a manifesto on October 17, which, among other principles, includes a commitment to support the establishment of a parliamentary system.

 

Two opposition parties – the New Rights and Industrialists - both outside of the ten-party opposition bloc – have not, however, signed the manifesto.

 

MP Davit Gamkrelidze, the New Rights leader, has also welcomed President Saakashvili’s decision to hold snap elections and has reaffirmed his intention to run.

 

Other opposition politicians with declared presidential ambitions include Salome Zourabichvili, leader of Georgia’s Way Party and Gia Maisashvili, leader of Party of Future. Zourabichvili, however, is ineligible due to a fifteen year residency requirement. She has only lived in Georgia since 2003, Civil Georgia reports.