Protests threaten Georgian leader’s grip on power
Canada Goose sale TBILISI (Reuters) Nana Dumbadze was all set to vote for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili party in an election next week. That is, until she saw television footage of prisoners being raped.
canada goose coats Supporters of the ruling National Movement Party scuffle with supporters of the opposition Georgian Dream coalition during an canada goose clearance election rally in the town of Signagi, 115 km (71 miles) southeast of Tbilisi, September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer
The 37 year old teacher was so shocked that she has decided to switch allegiance from the leader of the Rose Revolution that swept out the ex Soviet old guard in 2003 to an opposition bloc, Georgian Dream, led by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.
The prison brutality scandal, which has ignited protests, has left Saakashvili United National Movement (UNM) facing https://www.canadagoosesale.biz an unexpectedly tough battle to keep power in the Canada Goose Outlet volatile Caucasus state, a transit route for oil and gas to the West.
It has raised canada goose store the stakes for Saakashvili. He has promised to leave the presidency next year and needs a UNM victory cheap Canada Goose in the October 1 parliamentary election to keep a hand on Georgia reins and avoid the risk of political oblivion.
canadian goose jacket intended to vote for Saakashvili party but canada goose factory sale after watching what we all seen on TV I changed my mind and will vote for the opposition now, Dumbadze canada goose uk outlet said. think it immoral to vote for this government.
Dumbadze described asking her mother to make sure her two sons, aged uk canada goose outlet seven Canada Goose online and 10, do not see the footage on Canada Goose sale television while she is away at work or on errands.
canada goose deals The grim footage has Canada Goose Parka enabled Ivanishvili, a once reclusive tycoon who has a spectacular glass and canada goose uk shop steel house overlooking Tbilisi, to call the vote choice between good and evil
Canada Goose online Saakashvili, 44, became the West political darling when he rose to power after the canada goose uk black friday bloodless revolution canada goose black friday sale that toppled Eduard Shevardnadze, a former Soviet foreign minister.
Canada Goose Jackets Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili, accompanied by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, takes part in an official welcoming ceremony in Tbilisi, September 26, 2012. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili
canada goose clearance sale But opponents have accused Canada Goose Online Saakashvili of monopolizing power and criticized him for leading Georgia into a disastrous five day war with Russia in 2008. His promise to take canada goose clearance sale Georgia into NATO remains unfulfilled and has soured relations with Moscow.
The abuse scandal has increased tensions before the vote, prompting calls for restraint from the West.
canada goose The opposition says 60 supporters have been detained by police, describing an of fear and intimidation The ruling party says supporters have been attacked by protesters and urged the six party Georgian Dream to reject violence.
Canada Goose Outlet Saakashvili government says canada goose coats the video, which shows guards beating, punching and humiliating prisoners, Canada Goose Jackets as well as canada goose coats on sale inmates being raped with various objects, was canada goose recorded by guards who were bribed by motivated persons
But Saaskashvili has also promised to clean up the jails. His interior and prisons ministers have resigned. The Tbilisi prison cheap canada goose uk chief, two deputies and several guards have been arrested.
canada goose clearance think they did quite well in reacting, said Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. Whether it will be enough for Saakashvili party to hold onto power is less clear.
canada goose coats on sale FADED ROSE? An opinion poll Canada Goose Coats On Sale in August put UNM on 37 percent support against 12 percent for Georgian Dream and showed 43 percent of respondents could vote either way. No polls have uk canada goose appeared since the protests but the opposition is expected to make gains.
buy canada goose jacket Slideshow (3 Images)
buy canada goose jacket cheap think that these events will have a huge impact on the election and canadagoosesale will overshadow the nihilism, illusions and the government propaganda, said Shorena Shaverdashvili, editor in chief of the independent Liberal magazine.
De Waal said the abuse scandal would canadian goose jacket support the opposition narrative in Georgia that the government has built a facade which hides unpleasant realities and has failed to improve the lives of ordinary people.
canada goose store the opposition is still less well mobilized and hasn been able to articulate very well what it is offering instead and the electoral system also favors the ruling party, so I still expect the UNM to win more seats on October 1, he added.
Canada Goose Parka Many Georgians just want better living standards.
vote for anyone whose promises seem the most realistic, said Lali Narmania, 58, who lives in a shabby apartment on Tbilisi outskirts with her disabled husband and son, existing on a monthly state allowance of 250 lari ($150).
Narmania is unemployed and her husband is bedridden by a wound from the 1992 1993 war in which the Black Sea region of Abkhazia broke from Tbilisi control.
cheap Canada Goose Georgia economy, hit by the war and the global financial buy canada goose jacket cheap crisis, has been growing again since 2010. But inflation was 11.2 percent that year and the government expects a rate of 6 7 percent this year after a dip to 2 percent in 2011.
Saakashvili was hailed by the West as a shining example for his promise to clean up the corruption, rigged elections and economic stagnation that blighted Georgia first decade of independence after the Soviet Union collapsed.
His team restored 24 hour electricity and clamped down on police bribe taking, and the economy took off before the war and buy canada goose jacket crisis. But critics accuse him of curbing democracy, persecuting opponents, pressuring courts and controlling the media.
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