TBILISI - Lawmakers who back President Mikhail Saakashvili unanimously voted Friday to endorse his 15-day state of emergency, an indication the pro-Western leader may not go through with a pledge to end it swiftly.
Opposition lawmakers boycotted the 149-0 vote in the 235-seat parliament, which allows Saakashvili to keep independent TV news off the air for nearly two weeks, among other measures.
Saakashvili promised Thursday that he would quickly lift Wednesday's emergency declaration and called early presidential elections for January, a response to domestic and global criticism of his move to emergency rule after days of demonstrations against him.
Georgian law requires parliament to approve any emergency declaration within 48 hours. Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, a close ally of Saakashvili, said after the president's speech that such approval had probably become unnecessary.
The parliamentary vote Friday was seen by some observers as an indication that the U.S.-backed president could keep the state of emergency in place for the full 15 days.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew J. Bryza was headed to Georgia on Friday to express American concerns and discuss with Saakashvili and other officials over the weekend how to strengthen Georgia's democratic institutions.
"Sometimes the process of democratic reform and having a democratic political system isn't necessarily easy, but at the end of the day in our view, that is the best way forward," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday.
Saakashvili's televised address Thursday appeared to be a carefully calibrated attempt to respond to criticism at home and abroad and ease tensions while retaining political clout.
He cast the announcement of early elections as a concession, but the fragmented opposition seemed to be caught off-guard and appeared unlikely to mount a serious challenge to his winning a second five-year term in the Jan. 5 vote.
Opposition parties said Friday that they were halting street protests as they began discussions to unite around a single presidential candidate. Far fewer police and security troops could be seen in central Tbilisi on and the city's main avenue reopened to traffic and pedestrians.
"The president's speech was equal to resignation," said Salome Zurabishvili, a former foreign minister who now heads the Georgia's Way opposition party.
Many Georgians still support Saakashvili's efforts to shake off Russia's influence and take the small former Soviet nation into the European Union and NATO. But his popularity has declined in recent years because of his failure to tackle endemic poverty in a nation where the average monthly pension is around $30. Many have also accused him of sidestepping the rule of law, creating a powerful executive branch and trying to muzzle critics. Official corruption, which Saakashvili has promised to eradicate, remains widespread.
The growing disillusionment fed the latest rounds of protests, which ended Wednesday when riot police fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets against demonstrators.
Nearly 600 people sought medical treatment after the clashes, including two dozen police officers, and 32 protesters were detained.
The West sharply criticized police violence against journalists and protesters, the deployment of hundreds of troops in the capital and the ban on all news broadcasts except those on state-controlled television. The United States called the state of emergency a "disappointment" and NATO's top official warned that Georgia's aspirations to join the alliance may be jeopardized.
Saakashvili accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest and expelled three Russian diplomats. Russia, which denied the accusations, responded by expelling three Georgian diplomats.
Georgian authorities opened a criminal case Friday against tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, a driving force in the opposition movement and founder of Imedi TV, a station regarded by the government as the main opposition mouthpiece. Patarkatsishvili, who has called for Saakashvili's ouster, was ordered Friday to appear for questioning connected to a "conspiracy to overthrow the government."
Patarkatsishvili has left the country.
Rustavi 2 TV, which has been supportive of Saakashvili's government, was broadcasting some programs Friday but was waiting for the state of emergency to be lifted to resume news broadcasts. Imedi and a smaller station Kavkasia remained off the air.
International media conglomerate News Corp., which recently took over Imedi's operations, said a raid by masked police caused severe damage to the station's equipment and would keep the station off the air for at least three months.
