Has the pre-election campaign turned into a “battlefield”?
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, September 27
The opposition Georgian Dream rally in the Kakheti region was held in an unusual “movie making” environment. The whole rally period was crowded with whistles, exclamations, rockets and a broom and nail “battle”... even horses appeared on the “battlefield.”
Coalition leader, Bidzina Ivanishvili met people in the Dedoplistskaro region in Kakheti on September 26.The whole meeting was ongoing alongside the United National Movement supporters’ whistles and exclamations “Misha is great!”
UNM supporters also spread nails on the road for the coalition cars.
In response, the coalition supporters held brooms symbolic of those illegalities which had been carried-out against Georgian inmates.
Before coming to Dedoplistskaro, the coalition leader was in the Lagodekhi region where his convoy was disturbed by UNM supporters. Ivanishvili's convoy was led by the young coalition supporters dressed in the coalition T-shirts on horseback.
According to journalists from various online media, the UNM supporters were also firing rockets towards Ivanishvili and those on the horses.
Ruling party representatives did not speak of any violations concerning Ivanishvili’s rally.
According to Dimitri Loladze, governor of Lagodekhi, the rally was held without any incident and no one was shooting rockets towards the coalition leader and his supporters.
“However, supporters of the United National Movement were holding a meeting in Lagodekhi and the meeting was disturbed due to the coalition leader’s arrival here,” Loladze stated.
However, one of the supporters of the UNM recognized that they were really firing rockets towards the horses as the animals “might make their town dirty.”
Meetings in Kakheti were not concluded with those incidents. One more incident took place in Sighnaghi between UNM and opposition coalition supporters. The supporters quarreled with flag handles and fists.
