Georgian Protests Get Reinforcement From Provinces
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of opposition supporters from Georgia’s provinces have come to the capital to join the protesters aiming to force President Mikhail Saakashvili to step down.
A convoy of some 600 cars, minibuses and buses loaded with opposition backers from western Georgia poured into Tbilisi on Wednesday evening.
They added to a crowd in front of parliament and along the city’s main thoroughfare that numbered some 30,000.
The protests began April 9 and have swelled to as many as 60,000 people. Opposition leaders vow to keep the daily demonstrations going until Saakashvili resigns.
They blame the president for last summer’s war with Russia, in which Georgia lost control of two separatist regions, and say that he is prone to rash decisions and authoritarian ways.