Georgia: Opposition Attempting a Comeback Rally

Speculation continued in the media April 5 over a Georgian opposition party's plans to bring about "drastic changes" to the country's political situation. The secretary-general of the United National Movement party, Vano Merabishvili, said April 1 that a rally planned for April 19 would be a defining one for the party, and even referred to it as "doomsday."

The April 19 rally, which the United National Movement has been planning for months, can be seen as an attempt by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to come back onto the political scene after suffering numerous setbacks at the hands of Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream movement. The outcome of this power struggle between Saakashvili and Ivanishvili has implications for the country's future domestic political course and its foreign policy, particularly when it comes to relations with Russia.