Georgia's government lifted a nine-day state of emergency today and President Mikhail Saakashvili prepared to sack his prime minister ahead of presidential elections next year.
Mr Saakashvili also promised not to impede opposition parties in the run up to the January 5 th presidential vote despite ordering police last week to violently crush anti-government protesters and then raid a strongly critical television station.
Mr Saakashvili's Western allies have been pressing him to lift the restrictions on media and demonstrations since the crackdown, when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at opposition supporters.
An official in the presidential press service said Mr Saakashvili, after a specially-convened cabinet meeting this evening, would remove prime minister Zurab Nogaideli and appoint a replacement.
Mr Nogaideli had said the crackdown on the opposition protests was acceptable because Georgia was simply copying methods widely used by its Western allies.
Observers said Mr Saakashvili was most probably switching his prime minister to show voters he was ready to inject fresh energy into his government ahead of the elections.
Diplomatic and government sources said the new prime minister would be Lado Gurgenidze, the chairman of the Bank of Georgia, the country's biggest commercial bank and the only Georgian company listed on London's stock exchange.