TBILISI: Tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Tbilisi on Tuesday, Georgia's Independence Day, to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.The opposition accuses Saakashvili of monopolising power since the 2003 "Rose Revolution" that swept him to power and of walking into a war against neighbouring Russia in August that Georgia had no chance of winning.Protesters waving white ribbons packed the 60,000-capacity national football stadium ahead of a planned march across the Mtkvari river to parliament, where opposition supporters in mock prison cells have blocked traffic since early April."This leadership has discredited itself," said 54-year-old Lamara Buadze. Former Saakashvili ally Nino Burjanadze told the rally: "I'm sure we will win. We will not take a single step back. All we demand is the president's resignation."Authorities called off a military parade planned for Tuesday to mark Georgian Independence Day -- reinstated after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 -- because they said they wanted to avoid confrontation with the protesters on the parade route along the tree-lined Rustaveli Avenue.Saakashvili marked the day at Tbilisi's military cemetery. "With one hand we fight to free our land from the occupiers, and with the other we build our country," the 41-year-old said in a televised speech.The stand-off is fuelling fears of unrest in the country of 4.5 million people on Russia's southern border where Moscow and the West are competing for influence over oil and gas transit routes.In a joint statement on Monday, the U.S. and European Union urged the government and opposition "to end the current stalemate on the streets and begin negotiations immediately and without preconditions on a new program of reforms to invigorate Georgia's democracy".The government says it is offering reforms to provide a fairer distribution of power. The opposition says it has heard such promises before and wants Saakashvili to go.The Georgian military had been due to parade with full pomp through Tbilisi, nine months after Russia crushed a Georgian assault on the breakaway pro-Russian region of South Ossetia.
TBILISI: Tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Tbilisi on Tuesday, Georgia's Independence Day, to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.The opposition accuses Saakashvili of monopolising power since the 2003 "Rose Revolution" that swept him to power and of walking into a war against neighbouring Russia in August that Georgia had no chance of winning.Protesters waving white ribbons packed the 60,000-capacity national football stadium ahead of a planned march across the Mtkvari river to parliament, where opposition supporters in mock prison cells have blocked traffic since early April."This leadership has discredited itself," said 54-year-old Lamara Buadze. Former Saakashvili ally Nino Burjanadze told the rally: "I'm sure we will win. We will not take a single step back. All we demand is the president's resignation."Authorities called off a military parade planned for Tuesday to mark Georgian Independence Day -- reinstated after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 -- because they said they wanted to avoid confrontation with the protesters on the parade route along the tree-lined Rustaveli Avenue.Saakashvili marked the day at Tbilisi's military cemetery. "With one hand we fight to free our land from the occupiers, and with the other we build our country," the 41-year-old said in a televised speech.The stand-off is fuelling fears of unrest in the country of 4.5 million people on Russia's southern border where Moscow and the West are competing for influence over oil and gas transit routes.In a joint statement on Monday, the U.S. and European Union urged the government and opposition "to end the current stalemate on the streets and begin negotiations immediately and without preconditions on a new program of reforms to invigorate Georgia's democracy".The government says it is offering reforms to provide a fairer distribution of power. The opposition says it has heard such promises before and wants Saakashvili to go.The Georgian military had been due to parade with full pomp through Tbilisi, nine months after Russia crushed a Georgian assault on the breakaway pro-Russian region of South Ossetia.
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