GEORGIA: NON-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION VOWS TO MAKE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000769

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL GG
SUBJECT: GEORGIA: NON-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION VOWS TO MAKE
TBILISI A "CELL" CITY

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) Summary: As the non-parliamentary opposition
promised, rallies resumed on Tuesday, April 22 with roughly
5,000 protesters staging in front of Parliament. Levan
Gachechiladze vowed to make Tbilisi a "cell" city and the
non-parliamentary opposition brought 50-60 fake jail cells
and placed them in front of Parliament, the Mayor's office
and the Tbilisi Courtyard Marriott, blocking traffic in
Freedom Square. Non-parliamentary opposition leaders vowed
to block other government buildings such as the State
Chancellery and the Presidential Residence to disrupt
government business and apply pressure to the government.
Irakli Alasania (Alliance) stated the protests are starting
to gain momentum and accused the GoG of ignoring society's
demands for Saakashvili's resignation and all efforts by the
non-parliamentary opposition to achieve compromise.
Non-parliamentary opposition leaders intend to bus protesters
in from the regions for the April 23 rally. End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: The non-parliamentary opposition's
promised "new action plan" turned out to be yet another call
for Saakashvili's resignation and an escalation by putting up
more mock jail cells along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare
Rustaveli Avenue, including a major traffic point in Freedom
Square. The small change from last week was their
announcement of their intention to block other government
buildings with "cells". Delivering Utsnobi ("anonymous" -
pop singer, reality TV star and the brother of Levan
Gachechiladze) to the Parliament in a jail cell via a pickup
truck-led procession can only be described as absurd for a
group that portends to take the reigns of government because
of President Saakashvili's erratic and unserious leadership.
It appears the non-parliamentary opposition has determined it
lacks the numbers of supporters to block streets and
buildings so it has decided to use the cells to accomplish
their intended escalation. For its part, the GoG, bolstered
by ongoing focus group data, feels confident in its ability
to let the non-parliamentary opposition continue its efforts,
feeling that such bizarre antics need no official response
and ultimately only undermine whatever public credibility the
non-parliamentary opposition has left. End Comment.

Saakashvili Must Resign and an Attempt at Absurdist Theater


3. (C) Despite attracting only about 5000 protesters, the
non-parliamentary opposition did not back down on its sole
call for Saakashvili's resignation. Levan Gachechiladze
appeared to be the ringleader of the newly announced action
plan to fill up Tbilisi with mock prison "cells".
Non-parliamentary opposition leaders stated that massive
numbers of protesters from the regions would join them on
Wednesday, although they gave no explanation as to why such
protesters did not join Tuesday's rally as previously
promised. Irakli Alasania made the claim that the GoG had
"totally ignored society's demands" and the GoG's only
response to their offer for dialogue was violence. (Embassy
Comment: Society's demand, according to polls and focus
groups, has been for dialogue and not Saakashvili's
resignation. Alasania's statement, that the GoG has not
responded to the non-parliamentary opposition's call for
dialogue, is completely at odds with reality. In post's
view, the GoG's offers of dialogue have been refused at every
Qview, the GoG's offers of dialogue have been refused at every
turn by the non-parliamentary opposition. The
non-parliamentary opposition's only known offer for dialogue
was for Saakashvili to negotiate his own resignation. End
Comment.) Protesters set up about 20 "cells" in Freedom
Square in front of the Courtyard Marriott and mayor's office
to block traffic.


4. (C) Levan Gachechiladze announced to the crowd at one
point that the MOIA had illegally confiscated their cells and
started to set off with a small group of protesters to
"liberate" them. MOIA representatives had no idea as to what
Gachechiladze was referring. Apparently Gachechiladze
himself was confused returning to the stage briefly
thereafter. Gachechiladze's brother Giorgi, better known as
the singer Utsnobi who has spen the better part of the last
few months in a "cell" demanding Saakashvili's resignation on
a Tbilisi cable channel (and interviewing opposition figures
from his "cell" on his Maestro TV reality show) was given a
hero's welcome at the rally. He was brought in by pickup
truck in his "cell" with a procession of about 200
protesters. In all, about 60 "cells" were delivered to
Rustaveli avenue and Freedom Square with the promises of
more. One press report said that the opposition planned to
construct 5,500 more "cells." Non-parliamentary opposition
leaders promised more information on their "new action plan"
to be delivered at Wednesday's rally. GoG and MOIA
representatives told Post that they have no plans to

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intervene, making the apparent political calculation that the
non-parliamentary opposition's actions are largely
self-defeating. MOIA representatives expect the rallies to
last a couple more days then die out.

Targamadze Unloads On Non-Parliamentary Opposition - Not Fond
of Saakashvili Either


5. (C) In a roundtable organized by the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to facilitate dialogue between the
business community and opposition leaders, only Giorgi
Targamadze (Christian Democratic Movement "CDM") and his
advisors attended. (Embassy Note: ICC is headed by Fady
Asly, a former AmCham head and long-time Lebanese resident of
Tbilisi, who has been highly and openly critical of the
non-parliamentary opposition's motives and the effect of the
protests on Georgia's business climate. End Note.)
Targamadze assessed that the intransigence of the
non-parliamentary opposition will only make Saakashvili
stronger and themselves weaker and he predicted that the
ultimate losers will be the Georgian people. He lamented the
lack of communication among the political elite and a lost
sense of moderation on both sides. Targamadze got a notably
positive response to his observation that "today's political
elites are captains of radicalism". He sharply criticized
the non-parliamentary opposition's extreme position of
calling for Saakashvili's resignation in spite of little
apparent public support but also noted that Saakashvili came
to power as a radical. Targamadze noted that the
non-parliamentary opposition has not called for other GoG
resignations, only "Misha's," stating that the rallies have
nothing to do with legitimate criticism of the functioning of
the government, only personal political agendas and personal
animosity towards Saakashvili. Targamadze noted the irony
that a number of those "crying" for democratic reform had no
problem doing business with Shevardnadze.


6. (C) Targamadze drew a distinction between the CDM and
the non-parliamentary opposition saying that the CDM was
interested in pursuing sustainable pragmatic policies and
reforming institutions. Targamadze said that his party sees
Saakashvili's record as mixed with positive and negative
aspects whereas the non-parliamentary opposition viewed
Saakashvili's record as wholly negative. In Targamadze's
view, the major mistake of the non-parliamentary opposition
was their singular demand for Saakashvili to resign and to
continue to protest until their ultimatum was fulfilled.
Targamadze said that after April 9, the non-parliamentary
opposition could have pocketed huge democratic gains in
media, local elections and election code (which Targamadze
described as better than many in Europe),the judiciary, and
many other areas. Targamadze said history shows that time
and time again, the non-parliamentary opposition refused to
compromise on any issue. (Embassy Note: Targamadze noted
that Giorgi Gachechiladze (Utsnobi) was offered the Public
Broadcaster Directorship in 2008 which he refused. End
Note.) Targamadze said that real democratic leaders need to
step forward from the non-parliamentary opposition but noted
that they will be branded as traitors and sell-outs much like
he was/is. He indicated that a real leader understands that
democracy is hard work and not simply organizing protests and
leveling criticism. Targamadze's presentation was
well-received by the business community representatives.
Qwell-received by the business community representatives.
TEFFT