Georgia will lift a state of emergency on Friday, the ex-Soviet republic's speaker of parliament said Wednesday, a week after violent disturbances in the capital Tbilisi and growing international pressure.
"Georgian life will return to normal on November 16," Nino Burjanadze said in televised comments. The move was welcomed by the United States, a close ally and backer of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and which had been urging the immediate lifting of emergency rule.
"That's a very important step. It's crucial, mostly to begin restoring the faith of Georgian voters in the democratic process," Matthew Bryza, the US deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, told journalists in Tbilisi, where he met with Saakashvili.
But opposition leaders said more was needed to renew confidence in the country's young democracy. The state of emergency, which banned demonstrations and muzzled independent television news broadcasts, was announced by Saakashvili on November 7 in the wake of clashes between protestors and police. The emergency period had been set for a maximum period of 15 days. "I hope that after lifting the state of emergency our country will continue its normal democratic process," Burjanadze said.
"Democracy is not made in a day, but I am sure we will all do our best to show the world that democratic values are preserved in this country." Burjanadze's announcement came a day after Bryza met with Saakashvili and other officials in Tbilisi.
Bryza added that "there needs to be a way to restore all the TV broadcasts," a reference to the opposition station Imedi, which was shut down in a violent raid by special forces after the disturbances last week. Bryza had been set to leave Tbilisi on Wednesday, but decided to stay on for further meetings, the US embassy spokesman said. Opposition leaders, who have accused the government of political persecution, said that simply revoking the state of emergency would not be enough.
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