Free Republic

Oppositionist New Conservatives, Conservators, and the Republicans have appealed to the international community regarding, as they say, the authorities' pressure on the media. The main accent was made on the TV company Mze's prime-time talk show "On the verge of choice", which is going to be closed on Friday. The MPs are calling on the international organizations and the public to defend freedom of expression.

Two developments in recent weeks have further tarnished Georgia’s claim to be the trailblazer of liberal democracy within the CIS. The first was the launch of a process to staff the Central Election Commission and its lower-level equivalents with people known to be loyal to the ruling elite. That process also effectively excluded many Armenians and Azerbaijanis from southern and eastern Georgia from serving on such commissions. The second was the national legislature’s initial backing of an amendment to empower the Tbilisi municipal council to elect the city mayor. Together, they beg questions about the dedication to democracy of the...

TBILISI, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Government of the Future public movement, led by Georgy Maisashvili, has joined the opposition Coordination Council. Standing at its cradle were the Georgian Labor Party, led by Shalva Natelashvili, and the public movement, Forward, Georgia!, with Irakly Batiashvili at the head. Dominating the Coordinating Council agenda are demands for an extraordinary parliamentary election and a change of government by constitutional ways, reports the Novosti-Georgia news agency. Government of the Future leaders intend, starting next week, to contact spokesmen of foreign legations in Georgia. Maisashvili, on his part, plans to meet US and European...