Adjarian Interior Minister: no velvet revolution in autonomy

"I want Tbilisi to know that the November [2003] developments will not repeat themselves in the Adjarian autonomy. The local population will defend the elected power to the end," Adjarian Interior Minister Djemal Gogitidze said to journalists in Batumi.

"That which the central leadership is doing towards Adjaria is a provocation," the minister stressed. In his opinion, the operation for the disarmament of the population planned by the center will certainly result in mass protests. "People in Adjaria have had arms for a decade already. Any attempt to withdraw it by force will certainly result in the protest on the part of the population," the minister said.

Commenting on the situation that has arisen in Adjaria after the parliamentary elections, the minister said that "residents of Kobuleti and Khulo are insulted by the decision of the Central Election Commission Chairman, Zurab Chiaberashvili, to set the second round of the elections in these regions." The head of the commission announced the necessity to hold the second round in Adjaria right after the opening of polling stations on Election Day, March 28, Mr Gogitidze said. "It shows one more time that the Central Election Commission is performing a political order," he concluded.