After being rejected by the journalists of Maestro TV, financier Bidzina Ivanishvili’s has found new allies in the anti-Saakashvili grassroots movement behind last May’s demonstrations.

The People’s Assembly in a statement says Ivanishvili represents a fresh, new start to Georgian politics, and that his program fully matches the goals of the assembly.

People’s Assembly is a movement spearheaded by chess champion Nona Gaprindashvili, and was the organizing factor behind Georgia’s attempt at reproducing the Arab uprisings. The protests peaked in May with the deadly police action in front of parliament which took four lives and scores of injured.

Nearly fifty people are imprisoned, some serving sentences of up to 12 years, after participating in the protests. The clashes made yet a dent in president Saakashvili’s democratic credentials. Human Rights Watch and other groups have pointed out a number of transgressions by Georgian servicemen during the crack-down, justified by the president out of a need to send a signal to the Kremlin because the demonstrators in his opinion were infiltrated by agents working for Russian military intelligence.

“According to our view, Ivanishvili represents a new, healthy way to start a powerful impetus to the political process. His program fully matches the position declared by the People’s Assembly”, read a statement released by the organization Sunday.