Challenging the Political Opposition in Georgia

In late 2007, President Mikheil Saakashvili was accused of efforts to undermine dissenting voices through aggressive actions toward the media and a crackdown on opposition protesters. Prior to the ill-fated conflict with Russia in August 2008 his erstwhile ally in the Rose Revolution, Nino Burjanadze, surprisingly withdrew from parliamentary elections. Burjanadze has reappeared as a challenger in Georgia's politics, and her partisans now seem to be under additional scrutiny, with a report of ten party members arrested. Burjanadze plans a press conference to address the matter. I will post follow-up information as it appears.

UPDATE (3/23/09, 8:00 p.m.): Additional coverage from Eurasianet, RFE/RL, and lenta.ru.