Georgian president remains defiant

Opposition supporters broke into Georgia’s Parliament today, scuffling with lawmakers and forcing President Eduard Shevardnadze to flee as thousands of protesters outside demanded his resignation.

Shevardnadze said he was introducing a state of emergency, and parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze declared herself acting president.

“I will not resign. I will resign when the presidential term expires, according to the constitution,” Shevardnadze said, accompanied by armed guards in riot gear, before his car pulled away from the parliament building. His office later called the opposition’s actions an “armed state coup.”

Independent Rustavi-2 television said that he was taken to the Kodzhori special forces training centre of the Defence Ministry.

“I am now announcing a state of emergency,” Shevardnadze said in a televised statement, apparently broadcast from there.

“Order will be restored and the criminals will be punished.” He said that both the Interior and Defence Ministry troops would be involved.

Koba Narchemashvili, the Georgian interior minister, at Shevardnadze’s side, said on television that he would obey all the president’s orders.

Minutes after Shevardnadze convened the newly elected parliament, Mikhail Saakashvili led hundreds of his supporters into the chamber. They overturned desks and chairs and leapt onto the podium just after the president officially convened the body.

Fist fights broke out after Saakashvili ordered all the pro-government lawmakers to leave the building.

“The velvet revolution has taken place in Georgia,” Saakashvili said, referring to the bloodless 1989 uprising which ousted the Communists from Czechoslovakia and brought dissident playwright Vaclav Havel to power.

“We are against violence,” Saakashvili said.

The parliamentary showdown came as tens of thousands of opposition protesters marched in Tbilisi, waving flags and chanting “Leave” and “Enough.” They had pledged not to leave until Shevardnadze was ousted.

This poverty-stricken ex-Soviet republic slid into its biggest political crisis in years after the November 2 parliamentary elections, which the opposition and many foreign observers claimed were rigged in favour of pro-Shevardnadze forces.

But the roots lie in deep discontent with the deep economic misery of most of the population and the rampant corruption that has characterised Shevardnadze’s reign. Saakashvili has capitalised on the corruption allegations, and promised to confiscate allegedly stolen property from crooked officials.

Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister, has long claimed that he is key to maintaining stability in the turbulent, strategically-located nation, which has been riven by two civil wars following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

He has carefully cultivated western support and interest in his nation, which lies in the energy-rich Caspian region, and the United States helped train Georgian military forces to try to uproot extremists who had used Georgia as a jumping-off point for attacks in neighbouring Chechnya.

As the protests built over the past two weeks, Shevardnadze’s grip on the government seemed to be loosening and even his top security aide acknowledged that the election had been fraudulent.

There was no sign that the police and military had switched allegiance from Shevardnadze, but they were acting with great restraint and did not confront the opposition protesters.

After entering the legislature, Saakashvili immediately handed over the podium to opposition leader Nino Burdzhanadze, who was the speaker in the last parliament.

“We tried not to allow what has happened but Shevardnadze has lost all chances for peaceful negotiations,” she said, as her supporters waved National Movement flags and cheered her on.

“We have won today and the most important thing now is to preserve peace. Those who try to steal our victory will be punished.”

Shevardnadze stressed on national television that the interior troops could have opened fire on the demonstrators who stormed into parliament, but he forbade the use of force.

“I said there should be no bloodshed,” he said.

Outside the parliament, the opposition seized control of the square that had initially been occupied by pro-Shevardnadze forces. Some of the pro-government deputies were beaten as they left the area, but largely the crowd remained peaceful.

Earlier today, Shevardnadze said that he was ready for dialogue with the opposition, but “without any ultimatums. Parliament was elected and … parliament should begin work today.”

Both pro and anti-Shevardnadze forces had vowed to avoid bloodshed but also refused to budge from their increasingly intractable positions. Both sides amassed thousands of supporters in the already tense capital.

Police, covered in body armour and holding shields, have been posted in front of all the main government buildings.

As tension escalated, Shevardnadze appeared to soften his position. He acknowledged that there had been some breaches in the election, which the pro-Shevardnadze party won according to official results. “About eight per cent to 10 per cent of the ballots were invalid,” he said, but added that this should be dealt with in the courts.

US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the election results reflect “massive vote fraud” in some regions and “do not accurately reflect the will of the Georgian people.”

On Friday, the State Department had called on Georgia’s government to conduct an independent investigation.

According to final results, the ‘pro-Shevardnadze For a New Georgia bloc’ came in first with 21.32 per cent of the vote, while the Revival party, which sometimes has been critical of the government but sided with Shevardnadze in the present crisis, finished second with 18.84 per cent.

Saakashvili’s National Movement came in a very close third with 18.08 per cent of the vote, while the Democrats who allied with Saakashvili got 8.8 per cent.

Russia, which remains a key power in the region, also said that the election was marred and called for the “mistakes to be corrected, but in the realm of the law.”

“The alternative is chaos,” the Russian Foreign Ministry warned.

Shevardnadze complained against what he called biased media coverage of the Georgian elections and the ensuing political crisis.

“That has led to what happened today,” he said on television. He urged global leaders not to encourage the opposition.