TBILISI, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - An opposition leader accused the Georgian president Wednesday of pursuing a totalitarian line. "The rose revolution has evolved into a rose terror, designed to establish a dictatorship in the country," David Gamkrelidze, leader of the New Rightists opposition party, said, commenting on Mikheil Saakashvili's address to parliament Tuesday.
In his two-hour speech, Saakashvili focused on the successes of his two-year presidency, ignoring failures that have led to what his political opponents and many ordinary Georgians believe is a political and economic crisis.
Saakashvili also repeated his accusations against Russia, which he said was trying to "annex" Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which declared their independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and said Georgia would seek to obtain a NATO candidate-country status in 2006 and join the military alliance in 2008, given the "serious dangers" surrounding the country.
"The president has no right to talk about freedom and democracy in a country where human rights have been violated on a large scale," Gamkrelidze said.
The president refuses to hold dialogue with the opposition, i.e. the part of society in disagreement with the official line, he said.
"If the president is not willing to talk to the opposition, the latter will not seek dialogue with him either."
Gamkrelindze said Saakashvili and the ruling party had forgotten what they had promised to the nation in their election campaigns.
