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Compiled by Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, September 25
Police frightened by opposition - Petre Tsiskarishvili

Rezonansi reports that Parliamentary majority leader Petre Tsiskarishvili has stated that the opposition are terrorising the police. He made this statement in Parliament after the opposition demanded the creation of a Special Investigation Commission to examine the current practice of pardoning prisoners, following the recent murder of a policeman by a pardoned convict.

Tsiskarishvili said that pardoning procedures and the relevant laws should be refined but this issue must not be given a political connotation. He said that opposition members could not understand the content of the President’s report, in which Mikheil Saakashvili said that a policeman should de able to use a weapon against a potential criminal if he believes he poses some danger.

“One of the reasons the policeman was killed that day was that the police are being terrorised by the opposition. Policemen resist using weapons even when necessary because opposition members frequently give such incidents political connotations. Opposition parties should change their attitude towards the police,” said Tsiskarishvili.



Georgia’s future model of government is still uncertain

Rezonansi reports that it is still not known what model of governance Georgia will adopt in future. A significant number of politicians and analysts suggest that a Parliamentary model would be the most appropriate, but the Constitutional Commission has not made a firm decision in favour of this or any other option at present.

Political analyst Giorgi Khutsishvili has said, “I am sure that the present Government will do its best to impose the model which will enable it to rule Georgia as long as possible.” Ramaz Klimiashvili has said, “If a referendum was held today, I believe most citizens would support the Parliamentary governance model. But this would be a very serious change and it would require detailed analysis.” Conservative Party member Kakha Kukava has said, “In all civilized countries the Constitution is a product of consensus, and changes here should be adopted by consensus between the political forces and the public.”



Tbilisi Mayoral election the first step in dismantling Saakashvili regime - Gamkrelidze

Kvela Siakhle reports that New Rights leader Davit Gamkrelidze has stated: “The next elections in Georgia, as the President Saakashvili has stated, will be the local elections of 30 May, 2010, at which the Tbilisi Mayor will be elected by direct public vote. We have decided to participate in this election and are going to defeat the Government and conduct a serious struggle to change the electoral environment. To do this we need to nominate political figures trusted by the people who have a chance of winning this election to stand for us. I consider the Sozar Subari and Irakli Alasania tandem will be able to do this.

“Other opposition parties, who are suggesting that the Mayoral elections should be held sooner than 30 May, cannot present a concrete plan which will make the Government compromise in this direction. What I can say now however is that the Mayoral election is the first step in removing Saakashvili’s regime from Georgia. We have had consultations with other opposition parties, but most of these consider that participation in these elections is useless and it is better to boycott them. This is not the correct attitude to my mind. All opinion polls show that Alasania’s rating is the highest now, and the combination of he and Subari will be unstoppable at the Tbilisi Mayoral elections,” stated Gamkrelidze.