Saakashvili pledges early elections to defuse crisis

GEORGIA’S pro-Western president said yesterday the country would hold early presidential elections in January to defuse a crisis fuelled by protests against him.

President Mikhail Saakashvili also promised to lift within days the nationwide state of emergency that he had imposed late on Wednesday after a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, saying “the situation in Georgia is quickly stabilising”.

The election had been due to take place in late 2008, but Saakashvili said it would now be scheduled for January 5 “to receive the trust of the people”.

Troops armed with hard rubber clubs were patrolling the centre of the Georgian capital to enforce the state of emergency.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warned that Saakashvili may be jeopardising Georgia’s aspirations to join the Western alliance with the 15-day nationwide state of emergency, in which news broadcasts on independent stations were halted and all demonstrations banned.

“The imposition of emergency rule and the closure of media outlets in Georgia, a partner with which the alliance has an intensified dialogue, are of particular concern and not in line with Euro-Atlantic values,” he said.

Hundreds of the khaki-uniformed Interior Ministry officers flooded Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare, the site of the main protests by demonstrators calling for the US-backed Saakashvili to resign.

The riot police responded to the demonstrators with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. Saakashvili defended the use of force, saying it was necessary to prevent the former Soviet republic from sliding into chaos as it moves toward integration with the West.

The American-educated Saakashvili, who is trying to shake off centuries of Russian influence and integrate the ex-Soviet republic with the West, accused Moscow of fomenting the protests and expelled three Russian diplomats.

Russia responded yesterday by expelling three “senior” Georgian diplomats in response to Georgia’s “unfriendly acts”, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Vesti-24 television.

Georgian health officials said 569 people sought medical treatment after the clashes, including 24 police officers, and 28 remained in hospital yesterday.

The Interior Ministry said 32 protesters were detained.