GEORGIA:Election campaign set to become a divisive struggle for hearts and minds, writes Daniel McLaughlin
Georgia's parliament approved a 15-day state of emergency yesterday, as police hunted three men who they claimed were acting on Russia's orders to foment a coup in the Black Sea state.
"The threat that existed until now is still present despite the calm that has been restored," Nino Burjanadze, parliament's speaker, said at the start of the vote.
"I do not exclude we will rescind today's decision before these 15 days expire. But today we should pass this decision."
Later, Yekaterina Sharashidze, a spokeswoman for embattled president Mikhail Saakashvili, said: "The state of emergency is expected to be lifted much sooner than the parliament's approved 15 days . . . The president has the right to lift it as soon as he deems it necessary."
The state of emergency was declared on Wednesday after police used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators who accused him of cracking down on political opponents and failing to remedy poverty and corruption.
The head of state said Russian security services were stirring up trouble in Georgia in an attempt to oust him in revenge for his defiance of Moscow and because of his bid to lead the country into the European Union and Nato.
Georgia and Russia have expelled three diplomats each this week and Georgian prosecutors have accused two opposition leaders, Tsotne Gamsakhurdia and Shalva Natelashvili, of plotting a coup with Russian agents. Georgian police believe both men are hiding in Russia.
Audio tapes played on state television - the only channel operating under the emergency rule - claimed to reveal other opposition party leaders talking before the demonstrations with alleged Russian spies stationed at Moscow's embassy in Tiblisi.
Prosecutors accused billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, the opposition's chief financier, of being part of the coup plot and said they wanted "to question him as a suspect". He is thought to be in Israel but spends much of his time in London.
Mr Patarkatsishvili owns most of Georgia's main opposition broadcaster Imedi, which was shut down by police on Wednesday.
Rupert Murdoch owns the rest of the shares and has management control of the station, whose closure he has condemned.
Mr Saakashvili has denounced Mr Patarkatsishvili as a "Russian oligarch" who is funding the alleged coup, but the silver-haired tycoon makes an unlikely Kremlin operative.
He is wanted by Russian prosecutors for alleged fraudulent business dealings with Boris Berezovsky, a long-time associate who lives in self-imposed exile in London after coming under attack from Russian president Vladimir Putin.
"That is complete rubbish," Mr Patarkatsishvili said of the president's claims.
"Saakashvili simply underestimates our people. The search for a foreign enemy is a typical indicator of the slide of a legal regime into dictatorship and authoritarianism."
The latest surge in street protests was triggered in late September, when former ally and ex-defence minister Irakly Okruashvili accused Mr Saakashvili of ordering the murder of Mr Patarkatsishvili.
He was arrested on corruption charges after making the claim, and withdrew the allegation in a televised statement which he later said was made under duress. He is now in Germany, to where supporters say he was forcibly removed by the security services.
Mr Saakashvili's attempt to label opponents as Russian puppets has angered many Georgians and bemused analysts, who say the one thing that unites the president and his critics is a determination to escape Moscow's grip, move towards the West, and hold on to breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where the Kremlin funds separatist forces.
There are few policies shared by the 10 parties that have coalesced to oppose Mr Saakashvili, though they all insist that they will choose a single leader to support in the snap January 5th presidential election called by Mr Saakashvili.
Amid a dearth of viable candidates who have in the recent past made enemies of their would-be allies, Mr Patarkatsishvili could benefit from being a political novice.
"As to me personally, this is the most serious responsibility and I am seriously thinking about it," he said when asked if he would run for president.
"I think the opposition understand that now, as never before, unity is essential."