Who will be able to unite the Georgian opposition?

Other opposition forces have expressed support for the ultimatum given yesterday by the leader of the party "Georgia's Path", Salome Zurabishvili, that Mikheil Saakashvili must resign by 9th April. Among them are Nino Burjanadze's party "Democratic movement - A United Georgia", the Conservatives and "The People's Party".

"Our main goals are to save the country, avoid any external and domestic dangers, guarantee Georgia's security and bring the country out of this extremely difficult and deep crisis," RIA Novosti cites Burjanadze. "The only realistic way to achieve these goals is if the president resigns and early presidential elections are declared."

As the leader of the Conservative party, Zviad Dzidziguri, told Kommersant, "on 9th April members of the opposition parties will begin a sit-in permanent protest action outside Georgia's parliament building in Tbilisi and in several other cities around the country, with the sole demand being that Saakashvili should resign. These actions will not stop until our demand is met."

In the last few days, the opposition has given the president two separate ultimatums: to carry out a referendum on early elections, and also to resign before 9th April. The first one was made by the alliance composed of Irakli Alasania's team, who is a potential candidate for the presidential post, the Republicans and the New Right party. Salome Zurabishvili has demanded Saakashvili's resignation.

Soon the solo demand made by the former foreign minister has transformed into pressure exerted by a quartet. And they have a no less serious candidate than Alasania - Nino Burjanadze. She has promised to start continuous protest actions if Saakashvili is still in his post in April. At the same time she has noted that she has also been holding talks with other opposition parties: "We will establish mechanisms for coordinating joint actions," concluded Nino Burjanadze.

For the moment, alas, we have to note the absence of any unity among the opposition ranks. Even at a time when common sense would suggest that they should unite their efforts in order to achieve their common goal, there is still hesitation among the opponents of Saakashvili's regime. These are primarily connected with the personal ambitions of those aspiring to the leading state positions, because many people think that the post-Saakashvili era is now not far off. It is no coincidence that the leader of the Labour party, Shalva Natelashvili, noted that if Irakli Alasania comes to power, "he will become no other than Misha-2".

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