Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Salome Zurabishvili: The only thing that is saving Georgia from destruction is this wave of protests

Грузию спасает от разрушения только волна оппозиционного протеста: Саломе Зурабишвили

"If the wave of protests in Georgia cease, then the country will be threatened by a new wave of destruction and repression," stated leader of the opposition party "Georgia's Way," ex-head of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Salome Zurabishvili at a rally in Tbilisi. In her words, "we stand here in order to save our army from destruction."

As for dialogue with the government, in Zurabishvili's opinion, the authorities' talk about the necessity for dialogue is just "for show." She revealed that, during a forthcoming visit to Georgia by representatives from Western countries [the visit of EU Special Representative Peter Semneby], the opposition intends to show that the Georgian public is asking for dialogue, but that it is the authorities who are not willing to engage in dialogue, because they do not want to admit that the country is in crisis.

The Georgian opposition has been holding demonstrations since April 9. They are demanding that Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili resign.

Two activists from Nino Burjanadze's party missing

В Грузии пропали двое представителей партии Нино Бурджанадзе

Two youth activists, Darejan Gujejiani and Tamara Naveriani, from a youth organization sponsored by the "Democratic Movement--A Unified Georgia" party headed by ex-Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze have gone missing in Georgia. Today at a gathering of opposition party members, Marina Salukvadze addressed Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Eka Zguladze, saying "we demand that measures be taken quickly to search for these young women." According to Salukvadze, at around 3pm, a black jeep began to pursue Gujejiani and Naveriani. The girls had just enough time to phone for help.