Shevardnadze Refuses to Step Down Despite Mounted Pressure

Protesters call for civil disobedience

While President Shevardnadze was reiterating in his Monday radiobroadcast that he “will not resign,” thousands of Tbilisites stopped their cars at 11 am on November 17 and blew their horns, as a sign of protest against the Shevardnadze’s regime and the signal to launch nation-wide civil disobedience campaign.

However, Eduard Shevardnadze seems to be downplaying the popular protest and ignoring the demand of tens of thousands of protesters to cancel the disputed November 2 parliamentary elections, and intends to convene the new Parliament in the nearest days. 

“As far as I know there should be some kind of shouting and noise outside [referring to one-minute long car horn blowing], in order to silence my voice, but my voice will reach out the people anyway,” Shevardnadze said in his radiobroadcast, adding, “I will not step down.”

He said that the new Parliament will be convened, despite the opposition leaders’ demands to cancel the election results, according to which two governmental parties – Shevardnadze’s For New Georgia and his ally Aslan Abashidze’s Revival Union, lead the polls.

“In couple of days the Central Election Commission will announce the final results of the elections. After that I will immediately convene the first session of the new Parliament. According to the Constitution I have to convene the new Parliament,” Eduard Shevardnadze said.