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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Saakashvili-opposition meeting dead-end |
| 2009-05-12 |
| The political turmoil deepens in Georgia as a meeting between the opposition and the president fails to bear fruit with the former refusing a proposed power-sharing deal. President Mikhail Saakashvili offered to share power with his most outspoken opponents on Monday. The opposition, however, insisted that the president should step down, vowing to intensify the protests that have resulted in thousands demonstrating outside government buildings, occasionally clashing with police over the past month. Opponents accuse US-backed Saakashvili of having mishandled the five-day war with Russia in August 2008 and of having become increasingly autocratic since coming to power in 2003. The Caucasus conflict resulted in the independence of two of Georgia's provinces - South Ossetia and Abkhazia. "We will keep on fighting for Saakashvili to resign, for the freedom of the press, and for the protection of all our citizens," said Irakli Alasania, an opposition figure who attended the meeting with Saakashvili. Opposition leaders did not say whether they would hold another round of talks with the president. However, they said that they would expand the mass protests throughout the country. "From today, we have the legitimate right to hold public protests that are larger, more urgent and take them all across Georgia," said Levan Gachechiladze, another opposition politician. On Wednesday, the protests turned violent for the first time since the beginning of the demonstrations. The number of protesters has dwindled since a peak of some 60,000 in the first days after demonstrations began on April 9. |
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