Thousands of people marched through Georgia's capital Saturday on the third day of peaceful protests demanding the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Despite a steady decline in the number of demonstrators each day, their leaders vowed to resume the daily protests with new vigor after a break for Palm Sunday, which Georgians and other Orthodox Christians celebrate Sunday.
Georgia's interior minister, who controls the police, said he was convinced the protests were effectively over.
Saakashvili, whose second term runs through 2013, has countered the protests by calling for talks with his opponents.
The protest leaders, who head more than a dozen opposition parties, have long shunned talks. But on Friday they said they were willing to talk to the president, if certain conditions were met.
I'm not a defender of Saakashvili, except in the sense that he is the legally elected president of Georgia. He was foolish to fall for Putin's trap last August. But if Saakashvili steps down before his term is up based on mobs and outside of legal provisions, that is a victory for Putin.
By all means, Saakashvili should have to defend his conduct in that brief war to the people of Georgia. And that accounting should be done now. But the electoral consequences, should it be clear if the people do not think he did his job, should take place under law. Like in 2012 and 2013, I should say.
