Protesters want Georgian president to resign

TBILISI

Some 40,000 Georgians rallied today at the start of a campaign to force President Mikheil Saakashvili to resign, an effort led by opponents emboldened by last year’s disastrous war with Russia.

Opposition leaders, their ranks swollen by defectors, have promised to demonstrate daily outside parliament in Tbilisi until Saakashvili resigns. They accuse him of exercising an authoritarian streak to stifle democratic reforms that were promised in the 2003 Rose Revolution that swept him to power in the former Soviet republic.

War in August, when Russia crushed a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region and sent tanks to within 40 km of Tbilisi, emboldened critics who say the president has made too many mistakes to stay in power until 2013.

But turnout was down on opposition forecasts of 150,000, reflecting what analysts say is a lack of strong opposition leadership, unity or support beyond the capital.

Political bickering

"We came here with a very firm demand to make Saakashvili resign," said Manana, an elderly protester. "We won’t go home this time, and we’ll stand here till the end."

Diplomats say Saakashvili’s position still appears to be strong despite the war, which saw several allies desert him and repeated Cabinet reshuffles.

Many Georgians are tired of political bickering in the capital and are sympathetic to government calls for stability as a global economic crisis deepens.

Some Georgians see Saakashvili as brash and impulsive and question his handling of the war.

But he draws support from the prevailing consensus in the country that Russia was to blame.

— Reuters