First protest actions of the Georgian Party were not too crowded

Erosi Kitsmarishvili, co-chairman of the Georgian Party, gave low estimates to the protest actions held in Kakheti. According to Giya Khelashvili, head of the regional branch of the Party, the low activity of people in participating in them was due the fact that local authorities intimidate people and do not allow them to go out to rallies. However, according to sociologist Gocha Tshvitigshvili, the radical opposition in Georgia is currently not very popular.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" has reported that starting May 9, the nationwide protests with demand of change of power will be started by the Georgian Party. Initial protest actions were planned in the Kakheti region (Eastern Georgia), to be continued later in the capital and elsewhere.

"We haven't announced a particular date of change of power. So far, we check the readiness of the party structure; and the first trial was during the Kakheti protest actions, which may be estimated as three-plus by five-point rating system," said Erosi Kitsmarishvili on air of the Georgian bureau of Radio Liberty.

The reason for such low rating was the small number of participants of the rallies held by the Georgian Party in major dwelling settlements of Kakheti - the village of Gurdjaani and town of Telavi. According to Georgian news agencies, the rally in Gurdjaani was attended by a total of 600 people.

According to Giya Khelashvili, head of the regional branch of the Georgian Party, the low attendance of the rally was due to the fact that local authorities intimidate people and do not allow them to go to rallies.

However, sociologist Gocha Tshvitishvili had already predicted low activity of citizens at protest actions. "According to our studies, only 40 percent of the population of Georgia are interested in politics. This is a very small percentage... Of course, the ruling party has the highest rating - it will get 40 percent of the votes at the worst. But taken in total, the opposition is gaining more votes. The oppositional 'eight' (the parties negotiating with the ruling party, - note of the "Caucasian Knot") has much stronger support than the radical opposition," said Gocha Tshvitishvili.

Nevertheless, despite the modest results, the Georgian Party intends to go on with further protest actions. According to Erosi Kitsmarishvili, these actions should result in a revolution or in fair presidential and parliamentary elections, after which President Mikhail Saakashvili and his party "United National Movement" should leave the power.