Thousands Rally Against Georgian Republic Leader
Thousands of protesters rallied against Georgia’s president Thursday, and opposition leaders charged that the republic is still governed by a dictatorship even though it is no longer Communist.
The protesters marched on Government House for a fourth straight day after Georgian Interior Ministry troops opened fire Monday to disperse anti-government demonstrators, wounding at least five people.
At Thursday’s rally, a broad front of opposition parties demanded the resignation of Georgia’s president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, and new legislative elections.
There were no clashes, however, and the flag-waving crowds were kept away from Government House by a barricade of buses and patrols of regular police.
Opposition leaders on Thursday accused Gamsakhurdia of continuing to maintain a socialist system under his personal control.
“Who needs another Saddam Hussein?” Irina Sarishvili of the National Democratic Party of Georgia asked.
Nodar Natadze, leader of the Popular Front, a pioneer opposition movement, said, “Gamsakhurdia does not understand what democracy is. There won’t be civil war, but maybe starvation, economic stagnation.”
Gamsakhurdia, a former dissident, was elected president in May by a landslide. Since then, criticism against him has risen sharply.
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