OPPOSITION GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE
Lragir
Jan 8 2008
Armenia
Levan Gachechiladzeh, the candidate of the united opposition of
Georgia who has lost the election according to the result released
by the Georgian Central Election Commission stated on January 8 that
from January 9 his supporters go on hunger strike in front of the
Public Television of Georgia.
"We go on a hunger strike until two of our demands are met,"
Gachechiladzeh stated, Interfax reports. According to him, their first
demand is an opportunity to broadcast their address live because they
are now in an information vacuum. The second demand is to hold the
second round of the election.
Earlier Gachechiladzeh and his supporters had entered the office
of the Georgian central election commission and demanded the chair
of the CEC to resign or negotiate with the opposition the recount of
votes. The spokesman for Gachechiladzeh’s headquarters said they found
an immense difference from the figures released by the CEC when they
compared it to records of the polling stations, which is evidence to
fraud. The opposition is likely to dispute the results, and if no fair
investigation is carried out, the opposition promises to go on protest,
and in that case people will give their answer to the government.
In the meantime, the president of Georgia Mikhail Sahakashvili held
a news conference with local and foreign media and said the election
is evidence that Georgia is a democratic country, and has advanced
towards progress during his office.