16 May 2009, 23:00
In Georgia, opposition gets ready for "grandiose" rally
On May 26, the country's Independence Say, the Georgian opposition plans holding a "grandiose rally" in Tbilisi with a demand of Mikhail Saakashvili's resignation. At the same time, its leaders complain of reduced number of protesters.
"I don't like that we're less. Is it really necessary that something terrible happens, that we're shelled, that we get out into the streets? I repeat again that we need patience. I understand that it's now hot and that sanitary conditions in Rustaveli Avenue are bad. But we've no other choice; we must stay here all the time. In Ukraine, people stayed in the streets for three months and 25 days, and we also should," Levan Gachechiladze, one of the leaders of the opposition, said to the rally held in front of the parliament, as reported by the "Gazeta.Ru".
"We are getting ready for May 26. On that day, we'll show to the whole world that we aren't tired and shall stand here until Saakashvili resigns," said Mr Gachechiladze.
"The whole oppositional spectrum today is united in demand of Saakashvili's resignation. We don't sleep at night, thinking how to force him to retire. We have no other aim today," the oppositionist has emphasized, as quoted by the "Interfax" Agency.