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Economist's Double Life on Frontline of Georgia's Street Protests

Reuters

   TBLISI, GEORGIA - Shota Dighmelashvili leads a double life.

   By day, the 33-year-old Georgian economist edits a business magazine,
   but after work he stands on a stage outside parliament in front of
   hundreds of grassroots protesters to demand political change.

   "I think I'm now doing one of the most important things in my life," he
   said on the steps to the legislature, dressed in jeans and a camouflage
   jacket and awaiting his turn to take the microphone.

   The demonstrations, held daily for the past month and drawing thousands
   at their peak, have presented Georgia's government with the biggest
   domestic challenge to its authority in years.

   They erupted a month ago after a Russian lawmaker was allowed to
   address parliament his native language, touching a nerve in a country
   that Russia briefly invaded 11 years ago.

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