Thousands of opposition activists rally in Georgia, call on president to step down

Canadian Press/Google, by The Associated Press, May 21, 2011

TBILISI, Ga. — Thousands of opposition demonstrators rallied in the capital of ex-Soviet Georgia Sunday calling on President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down.

Georgian opposition supporters rally calling
for resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili
in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, May 21, 2011.
Thousands of opposition demonstrators rallied
in the capital of ex-Soviet Georgia calling on
President Mikhail Saakashvili to step
down. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)

Opposition accuses the U.S.-educated and pro-Western leader of corruption and a crackdown on democratic reforms.

"This is the beginning of decisive fight for liberation of Georgia from Saakashvili," former world chess champion and opposition leader Nona Gaprindashvili told the crowd. She said the protests will last for five days.

Another opposition leader, Nino Burdzhanadze, said the police detained hundreds of activists on their way to central Tbilisi.

Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said that was an "absolute nonsense."

Another protest took place Saturday in the Black Sea port of Batumi. Utiashvili said a crowd of protesters tried to storm a television company, but police prevented them from entering the building.

Saakashvili came to power in 2004 after weeks of popular protests that ousted a Soviet-era leader. His government implemented radical democratic and economic reforms badly needed in the impoverished Transcaucasian nation.

He survived weeks of opposition demonstrations in 2009 that demanded his resignation over the handling of the disastrous 2008 war with Russia, but the splintered opposition groups failed to co-ordinate before the protests fizzled out.

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