President Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement won about 120 of 150 seats in parliament in the May 21 parliamentary election. The united opposition bloc received just 16 seats, but said the ruling party had rigged the vote, and threatened to boycott the new parliament.
Levan Gachechiladze, an opposition leader, called on protestors to return to parliament in central Tbilisi on the night of June 10 to make a human chain around the building. He called on supporters to show "unity and endurance".
"Victory does not come easily. Today the president ran away from us in shame. The same will happen on the day of the first session of the illegal parliament," he said.
Saakashvili earlier rejected the opposition's demand that he admit the elections were rigged, saying: "We will not tolerate the language of ultimatums. The people of Georgia has already made its choice and elected parliament, and it will start work in compliance with existing procedures."
Tbilisi saw six days of mass opposition rallies last November, with protesters demanding Saakashvili's resignation over allegations of corruption and increasing authoritarianism. The protests led to unscheduled presidential elections in which Saakashvili was re-elected.
