Georgia to hold snap elections in January

Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili has decided to hold early elections in January after the opposition took to the streets to demonstrate against the regime this week.

President Saakashvili said on on Thursday that he wanted to regain the “trust of the people” and would run as a candidate in early elections to be held on 5 January. “It is my proposal to hold presidential elections on 5 January,” the president announced on national television. He added that a referendum on the timing of parliamentary elections should coincide with the presidential vote.

Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis welcomed the announcement as a way to resolve the current political crisis. However, he urged: “This requires that the state of emergency be lifted and that freedom of expression and association be fully restored, in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights. In the run-up to the elections, the authorities and the opposition should refrain from any provocation and intimidation which could jeopardise the prospects for a peaceful and democratic solution to the present situation.”

The move was preceded by massive protests this week, which were violently dispersed by the police, and a state of emergency was declared.

The EU, the Council of Europe and NATO voiced their concerns about the developments in Georgia. The EU’s foreign envoy, Javier Solana, transmitted a message to President Saakashvili and the Georgian opposition, calling for political differences to be resolved “within the democratic institutions”. “All sides should resume dialogue and refrain from actions that contribute to tension. This is the best way out of the crisis,” Solana said in a statement on 7 November.

Saakashvili had blamed the Russian authorities for sponsoring the protests against his government. The Russian foreign ministry, however, dismissed the allegations as a “provocation” and claimed that the Georgian authorities were trying to hide their “own inability to solve their internal problems”.

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