UNM preparing for a battle

Secretary General of United National Movement (UNM) Vano Merabishvili spoke about the return of his party to the government. He explained that the current opposition will not wait for the acting Georgian governmental term to expire. These words illustrate that Georgian cohabitation is unlikely to take place and the confrontation will certainly become more acute.

After overcoming the post-election period of shock after losing the elections, the UNM is becoming more and more aggressive. President Mikheil Saakashvili and other UNM members continue criticizing the current Georgian Dream leadership at every possible turn within or outside the country. However, the words of the UNM Secretary General sounded very alarming when he said: “To [unseat the country’s current] administration it is not necessary to hold parliamentary elections.”

He later clarified that this does not entail the organization of a coup d'etat. Merabishvili also suggested that the UNM would organize street rallies as a major tool starting in spring.

Is UNM preparing for the second Rose Revolution? Several times UNM leaders have recalled the pre-Rose revolution period of 2003; that is why he suggested for his party to slowly come back to power.

These and other expressions used by Merabishvili, as well as the overall policy of UNM gave ground to some analysts to suggest that the acting president whose terms of presidency expired on January 20 and who still continues to fulfill the role is getting ready to discharge the Georgian Dream government.

Georgia’s current Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili while commenting on Merabishvili’s words, said that his government has “stopped playing ping-pong” with the UNM. Ivanishvili said the current government is not going to react to the lies disseminated by the UNM on daily basis.

The head of the Parliamentary Judiciary Committee Vakhtang Khmaladze also commented on Merabishvili’s remarks, saying that these words contained certain hints of disorder and unlawful activities, which are certainly violating Georgian legislation.

So, overall the situation is becoming quite dramatic, although in his recent press conference PM Ivanishvili said there is no ground for any serious concern and the situation is under control. However, the confrontation is real and some analysts expect irresponsible moves from Saakashvili and his team.