By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Two major Georgian opposition parties are to merge and demand early parliamentary and presidential polls in the wake of August’s war with Russia, a Russian daily said on Monday, citing an opposition leader.
A bloc to be formed by the Republican Party and the New Right party could be headed by Georgia’s ex-ambassador to the UN, Irakly Alasaniya, one of the most popular politicians in the South Caucasus state, Kommersant said.
“Our party and the New Right party will form up a political alliance in the next few days. The alliance will have a single leader. We will demand early parliamentary and presidential elections, and we will nominate a single candidate for president,” Republican Party leader David Gamkrelidze told the paper, adding that Alasaniya was one of possible candidates for the leadership of the alliance.
The move marks a radical change in the opposition’s tactics, the paper said, commenting that during August’s war with Russia over breakaway South Ossetia, the opposition generally supported President Mikheil Saakashvili for “fear of accusations of betraying the national interests.”
Alasaniya, 35, has taken first place in a number of recent polls to determine the country’s most popular politicians, the paper added.
A former Georgian embassy official in Washington and ex-ambassador to the United Nations, Alasaniya has strong ties with the United States, Georgia’s ally during and after the August conflict with Russia, the paper also noted.
Nino Burdzhanadze, the president’s former ally and parliament speaker, is widely seen as another person who could replace Saakashvili, who tainted his image of a democratic leader with the war and a violent crackdown on opposition protests in 2007.
Criticizing Saakashvili’s policies earlier this month, Burdzhanadze also called for early presidential polls.
Georgia’s attack on breakaway South Ossetia, which led to Russia’s operation to “force Georgia to peace,” was barely mentioned in earlier mainstream Western media reports on the war, and initially Russia was portrayed as the sole aggressor in the conflict.
The picture changed last month, with Western media coverage shifting the blame to Georgia and calling Saakashvili’s decision to start hostilities a “mistake.” Some analysts suggested Georgia’s “Western patrons” had become disappointed with Saakashvili and were seeking to replace him.
Georgian presidential elections are due in 2013.