'City of Cells' Seen From Afar

I'm in Kazakhstan, briefly, for the Eurasian Media Forum, and the political stand-off between government and opposition back home in Georgia seems a long way away - about 1,600 miles away, to be more precise. “You live in Georgia? There’s a crisis there, right?” asked a horse-meat vendor at the Green Bazaar in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty. “There’s a crisis here, too,” she added, although judging by the amount of upmarket imported cars on the roads of the city centre (hardly a Russian Lada to be seen), middle-class Kazakhstan, at least, has been doing rather well for itself from this country’s huge energy resources in recent years. Even their little Eiffel Tower (pictured) is glowing.

Back in Tbilisi, the opposition has been trying to turn the Georgian capital into a ‘city of cells’ - erecting mock prison cells on the main street outside parliament, in central Freedom Square and outside President Saakashvili’s official residence. This has caused disruption to drivers, bus passengers and schools, but despite opposition leaders' insistence that they were now taking ‘radical’ measures, there have been no attempts to blockade the airport, power facilities, or any truly drastic measures to shut down the country’s economic life and force a serious showdown with the authorities.

However, the opposition is now bringing in supporters from the provinces in an attempt to spark what they call a ‘decisive moment’, which they hope will lead to Saakashvili’s resignation, despite his insistence that he will see out his term in office, which lasts until 2013. One regional source has reported that a 60-car convoy is en route to Tbilisi from rural Kakheti. But it still remains to be seen whether the opposition has enough active support to get serious numbers onto the streets and provoke more concessions from the government.