President Saakashvili told the press conference late on March 15 “the provocation in Adjara,” when he was barred from entering Georgia’s defiant region on Sunday, “aimed at hampering the holding of the forthcoming [March 28] parliamentary elections in Adjara.”
“They [Adjarian authorities], which are doomed for failure in the elections, wanted chaos on the eve of the polls. They wanted us to use force, but we are clever enough and could avoid this,” Saakashvili said.
“Elections will be held in Georgia. And everything should be done to hold elections in Adjara,” he added.
However, as Chairman of the Central Election Commission Zurab Tchiaberashvili said there were too many procedural violations during the preparatory period and too many inaccuracies in the voter lists of the Adjara Autonomous Republic.
President Saakashvili announced at the press conference that Georgia’s central authorities imposed “partial” economic sanctions against its defiant Adjarian Autonomy in a bid “to exhaust Adjarian regime’s resources in two weeks.”