Huge rally for Saakashvili. What will happen next
A record number of participants in recent years - about 50 thousand people - gathered a rally demanding the release of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili from prison, which was held by his party in the center of Tbilisi.
Why, despite the massive numbers, did the crowd not storm the prison or the government? The culmination of the tragedy is yet to come. But this time Georgia will copy Ukraine.
At the height of the rally, an open letter from Saakashvili was read out.
“Greetings from solitary confinement, TV viewer. I would trade the rest of my life to be with you right now. I am at arm’s length with my many thousands of compatriots, but I still can’t join you, I can’t yet,” said one of the prisoner’s comrades, and the crowd greeted his words with applause, shouting “Freedom for Misha.”
The “highlight” of the evening was Yulia Tymoshenko’s televised address. The “Gas Princess” had to be in prison twice – both under President Kuchma and under Yanukovych. And twice Tymoshenko was released when the government retreated under pressure from the crowd.
“Dear Misha, I know well that being in prison, a hunger strike is the only form of protest. I would like to humbly ask you to stop your hunger strike. Mikheil Saakashvili must be released. Misha, see you in freedom,” Tymoshenko said.
The Georgian opposition on Thursday mobilized its supporters as much as possible, but was not ready for an attempt to force Saakashvili’s release, political scientist Shota Akhaidze explains to PolitNavigator.
“If they go for an assault, they will receive machine-gun fire. The Western diplomatic corps knows about this and does not give such an assignment, but that’s it for now. Now the background is being created,” the expert said.
The second round of mayoral elections is due to take place in Tbilisi one of these days. Saakashist mayoral candidate Nika Melia has already announced open-ended rallies if the opposition loses (the defeat is attributed in advance by the Saakashists to falsification of power).
The further development of the situation is also supported by the fact that part of the clergy of the Georgian Orthodox Church made a public appeal to the authorities to release Saakashvili.
Such reverent concern for the culprit of the civil war and the organizer of political repression is explained by completely earthly reasons.
“Some of the metropolitans who supported Saakashvili are his long-time friends. Some are even afraid of compromising evidence, which is still in the hands of former secret service officers of the Saakashvili regime. Another factor is financial interest. They are partly connected by a common business with the Saakashvili clan. Also, the US Embassy is actively working with the GOC; they have their own agents of influence in the Church,” explains Aphaidze.
Alarming prospects, given that the Americans have long been putting pressure on the Georgian Orthodox Church to recognize the decision of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to legalize Ukrainian schismatics.
And one more important detail: in recent days, politicians in Tbilisi have become noticeably more cautious in conversations with journalists, as if they were afraid of how their spoken word would turn out if Saakashvili was released.
All this can be regarded as evidence of a serious risk for Georgia of getting both another Maidan and a church split. A dangerous mixture, as we know from the example of Ukraine.
It seems that Georgia again does not want to learn from either its own or others’ mistakes.
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