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Saakashvili vows to take ‘people’s demands’ to Kiev's authorities on October 17

Until this term he will be staying in Ukraine, Saakashvili said

KIEV, September 19. /TASS/. Leader of the Movement of New Forces political party, former Odessa Region Governor Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in Kiev on Tuesday where he and his supporters are taking part in a rally near the building of the Ukrainian presidential administration.

"On October 17, we will gather in a rally and make demands on this power," Saakashvili confirmed earlier voiced plans of Movement of New Forces.

Until this term, Saakashvili said, he will be staying in Ukraine. "I will settle down in the heart of Ukraine, Cherkassy Region, and will gather people’s demands on the authorities," he said, adding that he planned "a great meeting with people on September 20 in Dnepr (formerly named Dnepropetrovsk.)"

Saakashvili explained to the scarce rally participants that he could not appeal in court the order issued by Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko on termination of his citizenship, as he had no documents on this case. "[They] don’t give me these documents. Moreover, [my] Ukrainian passport has been stolen. And I am a citizen of only one country: Ukraine," Georgia’s former president said, promising to seek restoration of the Ukrainian citizenship. Saakashvili said that he would not "be running after Poroshenko." "That’s him who is running after me. That’s him who is sending people after me," the Movement of New Forces leader believes.

He also denied that a personal conflict had sparked between him and Ukraine’s president. As he said, many "want very much to say that the two institute friends have fallen out with each other and are tearing the country apart." "Nonsense! The main problem is moguls who are killing Ukraine, who are pulling the country apart," Saakashvili said. He also stated that he does not want any positions in Ukraine. "I never want any positions here. There is only one ambition: to put [the current authorities] on their heels and raise the people. That’s it," he concluded.

On September 10, Saakashvili, who had lost his Ukrainian citizenship, returned to Ukraine through the Shegini check point. The politicians’ supporters stormed through a cordon then. After that, Saakashvili went to Lvov and on September 12 he stated his plan to travel through "many cities and villages" of the country. He has already visited Chernovtsy, Kherson, Ivano-Frankovsk and Vinnitsa, where he met with his supporters.