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TBILISI - Some 30,000 opposition supporters rallied in the capital of ex-Soviet Georgia on Saturday ahead of a snap presidential election called after violent unrest.
Protesters chanted the name of opposition presidential candidate Levan Gachechiladze and held signs saying "Remember November 7," the date riot police clashed violently with anti-government demonstrators, sparking the crisis that led to the elections.
"We will not lose this fight, the authorities will not manage to falsify the elections," Gachechiladze told the crowd in a park in central Tbilisi. "On January 5 I will become president."
"Misha we are coming for you!" he said, using the popular short form of incumbent candidate Mikheil Saakashvili's first name.
Opposition leader Salome Zurabishvili accused authorities of manipulating the campaign by blocking opposition access to the media and harassing anti-government activists.
"This is a totally manipulated campaign, but we are here with the people, we are going to win peacefully," she said. "On January 5 we will be the next government."
After rallying for about three hours in the park, protesters marched across a bridge over the Mtkvari river and along Tbilisi's main street, Rustaveli Avenue. The rally then continued briefly in the central Republic Square before the crowd dispersed.
The demonstration proceeded peacefully and there were no signs of security forces.
Saakashvili, who called the early poll in the aftermath of the November clashes, is the favourite to win the election next Saturday.
Gachechiladze, a former wine entrepreneur, is the most serious of five challengers. He was chosen as the joint candidate by nine of the 10 opposition parties that organized November's protests.
Saakashvili, who rose to power in 2004 after the peaceful, pro-Western Rose Revolution, saw his image as a democratic reformer badly tarnished by the unrest and subsequent imposition of nine days of emergency rule.
Tarial Saralidze, who drove four hours with his 10-year-old son to attend Saturday's rally, said he had turned against Saakashvili following the unrest.
"I supported Saakashvili before and I protested during the Rose Revolution," he said. "But this government has become a violent regime and has lost the respect and confidence of the people."
Saakashvili is hoping to renew his mandate and his international reputation in next weekend's vote.
His goal of winning Georgia membership in NATO has brought him into bitter conflict with former ruler Russia, and Saakashvili accuses Moscow of having a hand in November's unrest.
Hundreds of international observers are expected to descend on Georgia for next Saturday's vote and diplomats have warned Georgian efforts at integrating further with the West could be derailed if the vote is not conducted fairly.
- AFP /ls
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