MOSCOW — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili eased the crisis that has gripped the country for the past week by pledging Thursday to hold presidential elections and a referendum on voting for a new parliament on Jan. 5.
A day after the fledgling pro-Western government’s democratic credentials were badly bruised by a violent crackdown against thousands of opposition demonstrators, Saakashvili surprised even his opponents by agreeing to go to the polls in less than two months.
Opposition leaders called off further protests, and the protests that have gripped the nation since 70,000 people occupied the street outside parliament Nov. 2 appeared to be nearing an end.
With hundreds of soldiers blocking off streets in Tbilisi, the capital, schools closed and independent news broadcasts shut down, government officials signaled that the 15-day state of emergency declared Wednesday could be lifted sooner if calm prevails.
“What happened (Wednesday) is what we wanted to avoid: to cast a shadow on Georgia and its international position, something which we wanted to avoid at all costs,” Saakashvili said in a televised address.
“I made the decision to move the date of presidential elections to Jan. 5, 2008. I as a ruler need a full mandate from you to face all challenges and external threats and to continue the process of building the country,” he said. “The door of democracy is open. I as president guarantee that this door will never be closed.”
Saakashvili acted after a day of criticism from international human-rights organizations and Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, secretary-general of NATO, who called for all parties to “exercise restraint, avoid violence and act within the law.”
Georgia hopes to become a member of NATO and the European Union.
Government leaders said they had managed to defuse a crisis and seize the political initiative from opponents they continue to assert are manipulated by Russia. The two nations have been at odds since Georgia took its course toward NATO and the West with the 2003 Rose Revolution.
“The opposition leaders … were about to violently overthrow the legitimate government when the president firmly stepped in and by one bold decision demonstrated that Georgia is a democratic country and that all power in Georgia belongs to the people,” Konstantin Gabashvili, a member of Saakashvili’s party and member of parliament, said in a telephone interview.
