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Georgian prez resigns as oppn threatens to storm his residence
Tbilisi, Nov 24: Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze was swept out of power by a wave of Opposition, stepping aside without bloodshed after a decade of mounting discontent and three weeks of swelling protests over parliamentary elections his critics said exemplified the corruption that has plagued the former Soviet Republic during his reign.
Tbilisi, Nov 24: Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze was swept out of power by a wave of Opposition, stepping aside without bloodshed after a decade of mounting discontent and three weeks of swelling protests over parliamentary elections his critics said exemplified the
corruption that has plagued the former Soviet Republic during his reign.
Some 50,000 demonstrators sang, swung flags and literally jumped for joy outside the Parliament building, the focal point of the cascade of events that culminated in
Shevardnadze's sudden resignation yesterday as protesters threatened to storm his residence - a step he said he took to avoid a bloodbath in a region steeped in violence.
"I realised that what is happening may end with spilled blood if I use my rights" to employ force against the protesters, said Shevardnadze, who for weeks had rejected opposition demands that he step down in the wake of a November 2 parliamentary vote that was widely condemned as rigged. "The president has accomplished a courageous act," said opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili, head of the national movement and the loudest voice calling for Shevardnadze's resignation. But by the time the 75-year-old resigned, some servicemen had joined the protest crowds and it was unclear whether police and soldiers would have obeyed orders to use force.
Outside Parliament, the news of Shevardnadze's ouster turned the protest into a party. Crowds packed the streets of the capital, pouring champagne, honking car horns and celebrating into the night.
Bureau Report
"I realised that what is happening may end with spilled blood if I use my rights" to employ force against the protesters, said Shevardnadze, who for weeks had rejected opposition demands that he step down in the wake of a November 2 parliamentary vote that was widely condemned as rigged. "The president has accomplished a courageous act," said opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili, head of the national movement and the loudest voice calling for Shevardnadze's resignation. But by the time the 75-year-old resigned, some servicemen had joined the protest crowds and it was unclear whether police and soldiers would have obeyed orders to use force.
Outside Parliament, the news of Shevardnadze's ouster turned the protest into a party. Crowds packed the streets of the capital, pouring champagne, honking car horns and celebrating into the night.
Bureau Report