On Sunday about 5,000 protesters rallied against the January 5 re-election of President Mikheil Saakashvili, which they say was rigged, and on Monday 12 of the 70 hunger strikers outside parliament were hospitalized.
"The Georgian opposition reiterates its readiness for dialogue with authorities for the sake of the country's interests. But due to the unequal conditions for distributing information abroad, the opposition calls on the international community to mediate," opposition parties said in a message sent to the leaderships of France, Germany, Poland and Baltic countries.
The message was signed by representatives of the opposition's United National Council, the New Rightist party, the Republican Party and the party Georgia's Way.
The hunger strikers outside parliament are also protesting against changes to election legislation adopted by parliament last week prior to parliamentary polls set for May 11.
The opposition is demanding a new presidential election, that Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze resign for scuppering talks with the opposition, and that all those detained during unrest at an opposition rally in November 2007 be freed.
Burdzhanadze called on the opposition to put aside personal ambitions and start preparing for parliamentary elections.
"I have always said I am ready for dialogue and I state this once again," she told journalists on Tuesday, commenting on the demand that she resign.
Georgian authorities have condemned the hunger strike, but have said they are willing to resume dialogue.
Pro-Western Saakashvili was reelected in January with 53% of the vote. In November, he had been forced to step down after opposition protests in the capital turned violent and police brutally dispersed protesters demanding his resignation as president, a post he had occupied since early 2004, following the 2003 bloodless 'Rose' revolution that saw Eduard Shevardnadze removed from power.
