These last days, the public attention in Georgia and abroad has been drawn to the meeting of the Russian and American presidents. However, the domestic infighting has not been given up in Tbilisi. As soon as the Moscow summit was over, the Georgian media again became overwhelmed with the politicians' mutual accusations. The reason for discord was the amendments to the legislation, which are going to be used by the parliamentarians to squeeze the opposition from Rustaveli avenue.

Last month, the parliamentarians intended to make amendments to the law "On police", Administrative legal code and the law "On meetings and demonstrations" in order to terminate the endless meetings and protest actions. With the July heat, the oppositional meetings have thinned out. Still, the autumn, on which the oppositionists are currently putting their hopes, will come inevitably.

In case the amendments to the legislation are passed, the autumn may turn out to be unconditionally quiet and calm, for the authorities' opponents will be soon held liable according to the newly-amended law. In particular, the lawmakers do not make a secret of their intention to announce the ward-cages, which have been blocking the central streets of Tbilisi, beyond the law (a know-how of the famous oppositional singer Utsnobi).

Chairman of the Legal Committee Pavel Kublashvili stated that the Georgian parliament is officially planning to prohibit the use of any special constructions for road blocking in the course of the protest actions. According to him, this will require certain amendments to the law "On meetings and demonstrations". Kublashvili especially underlined that he was referring only to the amending of certain provisions of law.

However, in his opinion, as soon as the amendments are made, the opposition will still have the opportunity to hold the protest actions along the perimeter of administrative buildings, at a minimum distance of 20 meters from the walls. It means that the protesters will have to make a chain along the edge stone, balancing on the verge of the new law, in order not to block the roadway and not to approach the buildings at the same time.

As long as the current White House administration's position in respect of the Georgian authorities remains rather vague even after the meetings with Barack Obama in Moscow, the opposition is going to remind its Western friends of the democracy violation on the part of Saakashvili's government.

Thus, Secretary General of oppositional movement For the United Georgia Eka Beselia has stressed the fact that the amendments to be made by the authorities to a number of laws will encourage a new wave of repressions, as GHN reports. According to Beselia, these amendments open the way to dictatorship and must never be adopted. "Using these amendments, the authorities are planning to start a new wave of political repressions and turn such human rights as the freedom of expression into the actions aimed against the law. This is a breach of Constitution, which is going to entail our immediate reaction", - Beselia announced.

Leader of the United opposition Levan Gachechiladze also pointed out that by such amendments to the law the country's authorities are pushing the public towards a civil confrontation. He said that no draft laws will be able to restrain the public protest. "The actions will be carried on. If there is a protest, no papers and documents will be able to restrain it. Man invented the lock but he invented the key as well. However, the authorities should behave in a such way as not to collide the key and the lock; they should not allow civil confrontation", - Gachechiladze stated.

Still, one can hardly believe in the opposition's retreat even if the new law comes into force.

In fact, the oppositional activists are not making any secret of the current summer recess being the sign of an autumn storm. At the end of July, the oppositionists intend to bring thousands of their supporters into the streets in order to show the USA Vice President Joseph Biden the scope of their dissatisfaction with the current authorities. What should Saakashvili do? He is evidently not going to meet the distinguished guest with a special purpose police unit for breaking up the demonstrators, for it will hardly speak in favour of the "democracy leader" in the post-Soviet territory, which the West regards Mikhail Nikolaevitch to be.

The fact that the future amendments will do the country an ill service and will negatively affect its image has been also underlined by expert Soso Tsiskarishvili. "Considering the current situation, I do not think that Georgia will require any more steps that will lead the country back from democracy. Our common desire is to move towards democracy, while the proposed amendments to the legislation rather resemble the steps hastily taken by the frightened authorities than a true necessity", - the GHN agency is quoting the expert.

However, either under the experts', or under the press' influence, or else, out of the self-preservation instinct, the Georgian authorities announced that they are not going to hurry on the new regulations for the protest actions, though the package of amendments to the law has been considered today by the Legal Committee of the Georgian parliament in first hearing.

This decision was confirmed by that very Head of the Legal Committee Pavel Kublashvili, who recently tried to shove the amendments through the parliament. According to GHN, perhaps, such a humiliating manner was deliberately assumed to show that they "have got no desire to listen to the opposition's screaming". According to Kublashvili, the date when the amendments are to come into force has not been agreed upon so far, thus remaining open.

Well, just like the last spring and the beginning of summer, the autumn in Georgia is evidently going to be stormy.

Photo by: Interpressnews