Opposition MPs Unveil Ultimatums for Authorities

In an appeal to Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and President Mikheil Saakashvili the opposition Democratic Front parliamentary faction (uniting lawmakers from the Republican and Conservative parties) demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, the creation of new election administrations by political parties on a parity basis and direct elections of city mayors and regional governors.

The text of the appeal, which has already been signed by lawmakers from the New Rights parliamentary faction, was presented at a news conference on April 7 by lawmakers from the United Democrat faction. Currently Industrialists parliamentary faction is considering whether to join the memorandum or not.

“We express extreme concern regarding the recent political developments in the country… The level of the authorities’ confrontation with the opposition and different groups in society has reached a critical point,” the text of the appeal reads.

The document lists an attack against Valery Gelashvili of the Republican Party last summer, fist-fight in the Tbilisi City Council – Sakrebulo in December, the high-profile murder case of Sandro Girgvliani and the parliamentary majority’s decision to strip Valeri Gelashvili of his MP credentials on March 31, as examples of the violence exerted by the authorities.

The appeal reads that a “curbing of escalating violence” and the holding free and democratic local self-governance elections this autumn is the only way out of the “the persisting political crisis in the country.”

The opposition MPs are protesting against the current election administrations, which the authorities say were set up by professionals who have experience in administering the election process and who are not affiliated with any of the political parties. But the opposition claims that the election commissions are composed of people under the control of the ruling National Movement party.

The opposition is also demanding direct elections of city mayors and regional governors. The Parliament has already endorsed a law on self-governance, envisaging the election of city mayors by City Councils – Sakrebulos.

The third demand involves the resignation of Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and the reorganization of the Interior Ministry which, as the opposition claims, has turned into “a monster” after merging with the Security Ministry.

“We are ready to immediately launch dialogue with the country’s top leadership to consider the above-mentioned demands to overcome the political crisis,” the appeal reads.

The opposition parliamentarians from the Democratic Front and New Rights also said that they reserve the right to the boycott parliamentary session until their demands are met by the authorities.