A Western diplomat said: "The opposition are keeping quiet now because
they
are terrified of doing Moscow's work," said one Western diplomat in
Tbilisi.
"But as soon as the Russians are out of the country, Saakashvili is
finished."


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/miliband-visit-puts-press
ure-
on-georgian-leader-903732.html

Independent.co.uk
Miliband visit puts pressure on Georgian leader 
By Kim Sengupta and Shaun Walker in Tbilisi
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 

The first British government minister to visit Georgia since the Russian
invasion made a point of meeting opposition leaders as public discontent
over Mikheil Saakashvili's role in the disaster that has befallen the
country began to grow. 

Foreign Secretary David Miliband held breakfast with the main opposition
leaders lasting more than an hour during a flying visit to Tbilisi over
the
crisis in a move which is bound to add pressure on the beleaguered
Georgian
leader. 
The meeting follows talks between Western diplomats in Georgia and Mr
Saakashvili's rivals in recent days and is seen by observers as the West
opening up channels to those who might wrest power in the future. 

Although the governments in the US and Western Europe have made a public
showing of backing Mr Saakashvili, there has been increasing questioning
of
his tactics which had allowed the Russians to score a major strategic
victory over Nato. There is also unease at the Georgian leader's
increasingly erratic behaviour in public at press conferences alongside,
among others, Condoleezza Rice and Angela Merkel. 

Mr Miliband, who arrived straight from a Nato foreign ministers' meeting
in
Brussels, stressed that the international community will not yield to
Russian intimidation, and visited a camp for internal refugees displaced
by
the conflict. He also stressed that Europe, as the buyers of Russian
energy
supplies, had considerable leverage in the bargaining process with
Moscow. 

A Western diplomat said: "The opposition are keeping quiet now because
they
are terrified of doing Moscow's work," said one Western diplomat in
Tbilisi.
"But as soon as the Russians are out of the country, Saakashvili is
finished." 

Although Russian invasion has led to an outpouring of patriotic fervour
all
the signs are that rallies of support for the President could turn into
rallies of protest. 
One senior opposition figure present at the meeting with the British
foreign
secretary said that internal politics was one of the topics covered and
"Mr
Miliband said it was a wise decision of the opposition not to raise
problems
during the occupation. But he also said that he understood that it would
soon be time for normal political life to return." 

One of the few people with considerable standing both among Georgians
and
the international community is Nino Burjanadze, former speaker of the
Georgian parliament and one of the triumvirate that led Mr Saakashvili's
Rose Revolution in 2003. 

She split with Mr Saakashvili earlier this year, unhappy with his fading
democratic credentials, and has taken time out from politics. Many
analysts
see her as a potential challenger to the president in future. While
carefully avoiding direct criticism of Mr Saakashvili, she made it clear
that she would be returning to politics in opposition. "I'm afraid it
will
not be very easy for the government to answer all the questions," she
said
earlier this week, adding that the country had "nothing to celebrate" -
a
thinly veiled attack at a series of patriotic rallies held by Mr
Saakashvili. 

Republican Party Chairman David Usupashvili said that opposition figures
had
been quiet up to now because they didn't want to play into the Kremlin's
hands. But he blamed Saakashvili's "militaristic approach" for provoking
the
crisis with Russia."We have spent more than a quarter of the state
budget on
military spending over the past few years," said Mr Usupashvili. 

"Saakashvili bears part of the responsibility for this war. Russia was
trying to provoke us but we should have avoided direct military
confrontation." He says he explained to Mr Miliband the issues the
oppostion
had with the Saakashvili government prior to the conflict - lack of
media
freedom, independent courts, and a reality that does not fit with the
Georgian president's democratic rhetoric. "Mr Miliband didn't seem
surprised
to hear these things," said Mr Usupashvili.