Saakashvili-led party plans actions to weaken govt, drive it to resignation
TBILISI. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The former Georgian ruling party United National Movement led by President Mikheil Saakashvili expects that the current government will soon be changed and is planning street protests.
"We will not be able to tolerate the current government for the next four years, and we have a plan to weaken the government. This does not mean we will commit a coup and overthrow the government tomorrow, but we won't let them weaken Georgia, which they have already started doing," Georgian media reported on Saturday quoting United National Movement Secretary-General and former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili as saying at a meeting with refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Friday.
"It is not necessary to come to power through parliamentary elections. Even before the Rose Revolution in 2003, we had controlled the Tbilisi city hall and so were also in power in a sense. So now we should also take initiative in our hands and press on this government step by step," Merabishvili said.
He noted, however, that it is too early to start street protests in winter and that time will show what forms and methods the opposition party will use to attain its ends.