MOSCOW — Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared a 15-day state of emergency Wednesday after riot police armed with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets battled thousands of protesters who are demanding new elections.
Raising furious protests from opposition leaders who claimed the government had abandoned the ideals of the 2003 Rose Revolution, authorities also closed down two television stations and expelled three Russian diplomats. Saakashvili blames Moscow for the political unrest in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
"We cannot let our country become the stage for dirty geopolitical escapades by other countries," the president said in a televised address to the nation. "Our democracy needs a firm hand of the authorities."
He called on opposition parties not involved in purported Russian subterfuge to engage in dialogue.
"I have no doubt about your patriotism, and I have no doubt that we will always be able to find a common language for the sake of Georgia," he said.
The state of emergency -- to be presented to parliament for ratification within 48 hours -- bans street rallies and strikes, and places controls on independent television and radio news broadcasts for 15 days.
The measure is designed to end nearly a week of protests that have filled the Georgian capital's main thoroughfare with thousands of protesters demanding parliamentary elections in the spring.
"Everyone has the opportunity to express their protest in a democratic country and I, as a democrat, have always defended the right of people to protest," Saakashvili said. "But the authorities will never allow destabilization and chaos in Georgia."
More than 500 people were injured and several protesters were arrested Wednesday morning as authorities moved to clear Tbilisi's main thoroughfare. By midday, Rustaveli Avenue was shrouded in smoke; protesters, choking and bleeding, were running from advancing police officers.
Tear gas was fired at a church near the parliament as enraged priests attempted to shelter protesters inside.
"We are facing the government forces, who are now hunting for the people," David Usupashvili, head of the opposition Republican Party, said by telephone from the Georgian capital. "I don't know who will be in freedom, who will be in hospital, who will be arrested.
"It is more than clear that the government has lost any ability to talk with the opposition and the people," he said.
