Opposition rally to commemorate 2007 unrest

The Free Opinion House along with the 7 November Movement will hold a symbolic rally in front of the House of Parliament on the third anniversary of the violations of the Government of Georgia on November 7, 2007. According to the information released by Bakur Bakuradze the Director of Free Opinion House and Jaba Jishkariani the leader of the 7 November Movement at the joint conference held on November 3, all of the opposition parties will participate in the process despite their contrasting political ideologies.

Proclaiming November 7 to be the Day of Dignity, Bakur Bakuradze encouraged the parties to stand together and participate in writing “the Book of Dignity”. The book about the events of November 2007 according to Bakuradze will supposedly be issued in several volumes. Wondering how the Government of Georgia could still be chairing the state after firing rubber bullets at its people, the Director of the Free Opinion House recalled the events of the terrible raid. “On November 7 three years ago, the Government of Georgia had raided its citizens twice a day and closed Imedi TV. That’s why we are going to express our peaceful protest in front of the legislative body exactly at 7 p.m.,” he explained to the audience.

Most opposition parties will cooperate in consultations around the date. Kakha Kukava the co-leader of the Conservative Party confirmed that his party would join the symbolic rally on November 7 as always. The Press Service of the Democratic Movement – United Georgia chaired by the then Chairman of Parliament Nino Burjanadze expressed their readiness to stand alongside the Georgian people on the 3rd anniversary of the Governmental raid.

Member of the Movement of Fair Georgia, Petre Mamradze, expressed the readiness of the Movement for participating in any peaceful rallies. “We had warned the opposition in November last year that no particular results could have been achieved through permanent rallies. Such events always have the contra-affect on Saakashvili’s regime and we won’t ever participate in strengthening his policy,” Mamradze told The Messenger.

Despite the initiator’s appeal for oppositional unity at the peaceful rally, several parties refrained from participating in the event. Explaining they do not have particular plans for the date, Irakli Alasania the leader of Our Georgia – Free Democrats called November 7 the day when the whole of Georgia could see how the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and his ruling group had damaged the road leading to real democratic goals. “These where the goals for which we had voted for him at the Presidential elections on November 2003,” Alasania told the media.

New Rights also appeared to have different plans for November 7. According to the information released by the leader of the party Davit Gamkrelidze, he will be leaving for Telavi (in Kakheti) with his party members to discuss the issues related to improvements of the electoral environment within the country. “It’s high time that we would forget the stereotypes and stop crying over the past times. We should live for the future and make some particular plans,” Gamkrelidze said, and he wished success to the political parties participating in the event.

Analyst Gia Khukhashvili who has dedicated a book to the events from November 2003 till November 2007 spoke of the great hopes turning into great disappointment to The Messenger. “In November 2007, Georgian society had expressed its greatest wish towards the Government of Georgia to start following the promises given in November 2003 (when Saakashvili became the President) but November 7 unfortunately ended with broken hopes,” the analyst said condemning the attack of the Special Task regiments on Imedi TV and the violation of rights of its journalists.

“The society has to commemorate the anniversary of this date for sure. The current and all the future Governments of Georgia should see that the Georgian society is still alive and feels insulted. They should realize that the society won’t praise and pardon them after all,” Khukashvili told us. Hesitating from defining the chances for the oppositional unity after this date the analyst encouraged the opposition representatives to realize the responsibility over the results of November 2007 for filling the people with futile hopes and ask the society forgiveness for their mistakes at the symbolic rally, too.