Eduard Shevradnadze: Opposition is manipulating tens of thousands of innocent people

The opposition is attempting to take power by unlawful means and it is manipulating tens of thousands of people. As a Rosbalt correspondent reports, this was announced in a radio interview yesterday by Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. He said that the current situation in the country has come as no surprise to him. 'There is nothing surprising here and the current situation was quite predictable when one considers all the hype before the election,' Mr Shevardnadze said.

However, he stressed that the opposition parties lack any real unity: some of them want the central elections committee to recount the election results and recognize their victory while the others want the election results to be declared void and say that new elections must be held. 'It is quite strange and even amusing that these people are organizing demonstrations together. I ask those who go to these demonstrations whether or not they realize that they are being manipulated by the opposition to further their own personal ambitions?' Mr Shevardnadze addressed radio listeners.

Nevertheless, he thanked those who took part in the demonstrations for quietly returning to their homes after the demonstration. He also said he was grateful to the security forces for keeping the situation under control and maintaining order.