TBILISI, Nov 16: Georgia lifted a state of emergency on Friday as President Mikheil Saakashvili insisted life was returning to normal after violent clashes on the streets of the capital.Critics continued to question the fairness of Saakashvili’s decision to hold a snap presidential poll in January however, given the doubts as to whether one of the country’s main television stations would be allowed back on air.

Georgia lifted the state of emergency at 7:00 pm (1500 GMT), Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utuashvili said.

“The state of emergency is lifted and from now on the situation is back to normal,” said Utuashvili.

Saakashvili’s decree, which banned demonstrations and independent news broadcasts, had prompted a barrage of criticism from the United States and European Union countries.

He said the unrest was masterminded by Russia to bring down his strongly pro-Western government and also expelled three Russian diplomats.

On Friday however, he said that life was getting back to normal, that Georgia had demonstrated it was a “peaceful, democratic nation” and that the opposition was free to campaign ahead of the Jan 5 election.

“All political forces, the opposition, all citizens, will have the opportunity for political activities, to participate in electoral campaigning, including of course access to independent press and television channels,” Saakashvili said as he left Tbilisi for the coastal city of Batumi.

Nevertheless, Saakashvili’s reputation as an enthusiastic western ally who has pursued liberal reforms and provided troops to US-led forces in Iraq has been tarnished.

Opposition forces on Friday again questioned the president’s decision to call an early presidential election to defuse the crisis.

Levan Gachechiladze, the opposition coalition’s presidential candidate, said that a key test would be the government’s willingness to allow the popular Imedi television station back on air.

Widely seen as backing Georgia’s opposition, Imedi, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., was shut down indefinitely following the unrest.—AFP