Georgian Billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili will fund the country’s growing political opposition, which is working to bring down President Mikheil Saakashvili.Patarkatsishvili, who has been linked to Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, announced his support for the opposition in a statement released in London today. He didn’t indicate whether he intends to run against Saakashvili in the presidential election next fall.

Mikheil Machavariani, a deputy speaker of the Georgian parliament, said Patarkatsishvili may soon emerge as a leader of the opposition. “He who pays the piper calls the tune,” Machavariani said in comments on Imedi television, a company founded by Patarkatsishvili in 2001.

Georgia’s opposition sprang to life in late September after the arrest of Irakli Okruashvili on charges related to his tenure as defense minister between 2004 and 2006. Thousands rallied to protest Saakashvili’s “dictatorial regime.” A large-scale demonstration outside parliament is planned for Nov. 2, the anniversary of the Rose Revolution that swept Saakashvili to power began in 2003.

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