Georgian leader bows to protesters and calls elections

GEORGIA:Georgia's leader Mikhail Saakashvili bowed to the will of opposition parties and demonstrators yesterday by announcing early presidential elections for January 5th.

He also called for a referendum on the same day to decide if parliamentary elections should be brought forward from next autumn, as demanded by protesters who were dispersed by police on Wednesday, when Mr Saakashvili declared a state of emergency.

"It is my proposal to hold presidential elections on January 5th, 2008," Mr Saakashvili said. "You demanded early elections, but now you have them even earlier."

He appealed to voters to support him against foreign enemies, a clear reference to Russia, which he claims is behind the recent unrest and supports separatist forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway regions of Georgia.

"I, as the leader of this nation, need your mandate to cope with any external threat, to manage any pressure and to do away with an attempt to annexe Georgia's territory," Mr Saakashvili said.

"I . . . take this decision and make this proposal to hold a vote of confidence on my mandate, to receive unambiguous support from you to continue building our country."

His announcement came as Georgia and Russia expelled three of each other's diplomats. Mr Saakashvili accused the Kremlin of fomenting a coup and Moscow said his tough response to the protests could cause a "human rights crisis". Amid growing western unease at a police crackdown on demonstrators and Mr Saakashvili's declaration of a state of emergency, the EU, US and Nato called for calm and political dialogue in the strategic Black Sea state.

Soldiers cordoned off the centre of the capital, Tbilisi, to end several days of protests that attracted up to 70,000 people calling for the resignation of Mr Saakashvili, whom they accuse of authoritarianism and failing to fight poverty and corruption.

He declared a 15-day period of emergency rule after police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators outside parliament, where huge protests in late 2003 swept him to power in the so-called Rose Revolution. Mr Saakashvili, whom the West has seen as a key ally in a Russian-dominated region that is a major transit route for oil and gas, also temporarily closed independent news broadcasters, including one belonging to a powerful enemy who funds opposition parties.

Opposition leaders suspended street protests yesterday and criticised police for breaking up Wednesday's demonstration with a show of force that injured some 560 people.

"Neither side . . . should take any steps that would be deliberately provocative to the other and could lead to violence," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said after the clashes. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also called for restraint, saying "political differences should be resolved within the democratic institutions." Yesterday, Nato issued an unusually strong statement criticising Mr Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer who wants to lead Georgia into the EU and Nato.

"The imposition of emergency rule, and the closure of media outlets in Georgia, a partner with which the alliance has an intensified dialogue, are of particular concern and not in line with Euro-Atlantic values," said Nato secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

The strongest rebuke came from Russia, which has cut most trade and transport links with its fellow former Soviet republic and is angered by its move towards the West. "The brutal break-up of peaceful protests in Tbilisi and the following introduction of a state of emergency by Georgian authorities have brought the country very close to a serious human rights crisis," said foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin.