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Protest of the “Georgian Party” in Kakheti

May 10, 2011

Gela Mtivlishvili, Kakheti

Protest rallies of the Georgian Party in Sagarejo, Gurjaani, Telavi and Kvareli districts were held yesterday and about 1 200 people participated in it. The organizers brought most participants from Tbilisi by mini-buses.

Protest participants put a tie “Civil Front” on the governor of Patardzeuli village Valeri Tukhashvili and then declared he had joined them. The governor confirmed their statement – he was going to join the opposition parties – but several minutes later he canceled his statement.

“The rally participants arrived in the village when I was going to decorate the Memorial in Patardzeuli village with wreath. They put a tie with emblem on my neck and asked not to forbid people to join their rally. I told them we do not forbid anybody to join the manifestation. That was all,” said Tukhashvili.

Having decorated the memorial with wreath, the demonstrators moved to Gurjaani. The representatives of the Georgian Party handed out cigarettes to the people they had brought by mini-buses. Leaders of the opposition party Sozar Subari and Levan Gachechiladze met the veterans near the memorial. Erosi Kitsmarishvili tried to get rid of the journalists from the national TV-Companies. Correspondents of the Imedi-TV, Rustavi 2, Public Broadcasting and Real-TV wondered why Koka Guntsadze did not participate in the demonstration and whether they had really expelled him from the party.

“Can you imagine what they are interested in? There are so many people gathered here but they do not care about it; they are just asking strange questions. Koka has different instructions and he did not accompany us here. I have already clarified it,” said Erosi Kitsmarishvili, political secretary of the Georgian Party.

Sozar Subari promised the gathered people to call entire population of Kakheti and other regions of Georgia to Tbilisi to finish the current government.

Subari blamed the government of inattention to the veterans. “These people saved the humanity from fascism on May 9. Today, they are told this day does not exist at all,” said Subari.

There were several local residents among the people gathered near the memorial in Gurjaani. Head of the Gurjaani office of the Georgian Party Gia Khelashvili said the local population is afraid of the local authority to join the rally in Gurjaani.

According to Khelashvili, governor of Velistsikhe village had warned the villagers against joining the protest rally of the Georgian Party in Gurjaani; otherwise he threatened them to cease their social allowances.

The commissary of the Velistksikhe territorial entity Nukri Bakhlishvili denied the accusation.

Leaders of the Georgian Party moved to Telavi from Gurjaani. Several patrol police cars followed the motorcade everywhere. The law enforcement officers said they ensured security of the gathering. Officers of the Constitutional Security Department also arrived in Kakheti region during the rally; they were observing people from the cars and recorded state numbers of the cars.

After the information meeting in Erekle Square in Telavi, the manifestation moved to Kvareli and they gathered in front of the administrative building. About 1 200 people took part in the manifestation. The residents of villages Tsitskanaantseri and Kuchatani participated in the rally together with the people brought from Tbilisi.

During the manifestation, the supporters of the Georgian Party held theatrical demonstration. They caricatured the president, chairman of the parliament, ministers, Nino Burjanadze and other politicians.

Kvareli residents, who joined the rally, complained about the oppression on the people with opposition opinion. They said about 80 people wanted to participate in the manifestation but both petrol stations were closed from the early morning and mini-bus drivers could not buy fuel to drive to Kvareli.

Organizers expected 40 people to arrive from Sabue village but only 18 of them managed to arrive. People from Sabue said the representatives of the district administration were warning the villagers from the morning not to join the manifestation; otherwise they would cease social allowances for them.

Sozar Subari, chair of the Georgian Party, made statement at the manifestation. “The government is seizing plots from Kvareli district population. Short time ago, we met residents of Kuchatani and Tsitskanaantseri. Each family has 25 sq. meters of land in the village; the pastures were misappropriated and people are doomed to starvation. They have surrounded forest and do not allow locals into it. Our anti-human government does its best to destroy everything Georgian and to put entire Georgia in their pockets. Saakashvili tries to erase our history. They think governance of the country is a game; they thought they were playing with one of the hugest countries of the world when launching war with them – it was the most stupid and anti-Georgian step taken by any government before. So, we should finish this government as soon as possible,” said Subari.

Levan Gachechiladze said they have succeeded to defeat fair. “I am always surprised what you are afraid of? Here are the government-controlled TV-Companies – Rustavi 2, our beloved Real-TV. They are hired by the government; but, we have hired the government and when you wish you can fire them. We have been fighting for 4 years already and you should assist us in this fight. We can convince Kakhetian people in two things – to invite to a dinner-party and offer wine, and to invite to the battle to defend our homeland,” said Gachechiladze.

Today, in the morning, press-center of the Georgian Party spread information based on the report of Maia Sukhiashvili, head of Sighnaghi office, that Khornabuji-Rustavi rout driver Akaki Jikurashvili was summoned to the interrogation by security officers. Kakheti region deputy governor denied the information. “Nobody has detained any driver here. If they wanted to interrogate anybody, they would have summoned everybody. I categorically deny the information spread by the political party. The protest demonstrations in Kakheti region finished without incidents and nobody was intimidated,” said Giorgi Sibashvili.

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