November 12: The Protest Continued
We are doing fine, thanks for asking, but it is getting a bit intense. Both sides are escalating the stakes, with hunger strikes on one side and the implied threat of Russian military intervention on the other side.
So now we have a permanent protest: a thousand or more protesters are camped out in front of the Parliament building, demanding Shevardnadze's resignation. That seems unlikely to impossible. During the afternoon, various groups march down Rustaveli, creating traffic snarls. This is the group "enough." I wish we had an "enough" group in America.
The protesters have blocked off Rustaveli in front of the Parliament by pulling buses across the road: the marshrutkas now have to detour around this blockade, creating whole new traffic patterns in Tbilisi. I am frequently glad I do not have a car here. Note gas tanks on top of the bus: many vehicles here are powered by natural gas. The filling stations for natural gas are extremely scary: everybody here smokes constantly (cigarettes are around $.75 a pack) and the level of maintenance is very low, leading to constant gas leaks. Once, after filling up a taxi in which we were traveling, the gas valve popped open in the trunk and a loud hissing filled the car. The driver threw out his cigarette before opening the trunk to close the valve. I felt nervous about gas for a bit after that.
On the other side of the buses, the crowd stands and listens to speeches. The police are at the top of the stairs to the Parliament and hiding (with riot gear) on the side streets.
The media is also camped out here, waiting for the government to kill somebody. This is the spot where the Soviet Army killed 21 people in April of 1989: killed them with shovels, according to my students.
With unemployment at 80 to 90%, there are many people with nothing to do and nothing to lose. The remarkable thing is that it has been so peaceful thus far.
But we are always mindful that things could turn ugly in a second. All it would take is one drunk with a gun (there are many candidates for that role) and the police would return fire.
After that, the deluge.
November 13: Friday will be tomorrow.
Saakashvili has just called for every citizen of Georgia to appear in front of the Parliament building tomorrow: he says the time for negotiation has ended. Shevardnadze must go, he says. So, something big is planned for tomorrow.