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Ex-Georgian leader cancels next week’s march in Kiev, set for talks with opposition

The spokesperson said Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces is not planning to remove the tent camp outside the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada

Mikhail Saakashvili Pyotr Sivkov/TASS

Mikhail Saakashvili

© Pyotr Sivkov/TASS

KIEV, January 11. /TASS/. Mikhail Saakashvili, ex-Georgian leader-turned Ukrainian opposition politician, has decided to cancel protests in Kiev due on January 21 and to hold talks first with Ukraine’s other opposition forces, his spokesperson said on Thursday.

"Until the talks with other opposition forces are held, no exact date [of event] is set," Tatyana Bagranovskaya was quoted by the Ukrainian News agency as saying.

Read also

Russian diplomat calls situation around Saakashvili 'disgrace' for Ukrainian people

The spokesperson said Saakashvili’s Movement of New Forces is not planning to remove the tent camp outside the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

In mid-October 2017, several political parties and public movements held nationwide protests outside the parliament in support of large-scale political reforms. The protesters demanded the adoption of laws on stripping MPs of immunity, setting up the anti-corruption court and amending the election legislation. They also called for a law on impeaching the president.

The demonstrators set up a tent camp on Grushevsky Street and also Mariinsky Park, vowing to stay there until their demands were met.

On Wednesday, Saakashvili announced he was beginning trips across Ukraine to find new candidates for government positions "who will rule the country by other means, who won’t steal money and destroy Ukraine, but will build it." He stressed that new people are required for "a peaceful change of power in Ukraine."

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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