Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgia's president, was reluctant to condemn the national guard's commander, Tengiz Kitovani, who allegedly led the invasion into Sukhumi unauthorized.
The opposition to Gamsakhurdia, now joined in an uneasy coalition behind former Prime Minister Tengiz Sigua and the National Guard leader Tengiz Kitovani demanded that Gamsakhurdia resign and call new parliamentary elections.
Initially it was led by a triumvirate of Jaba Ioseliani, Tengiz Sigua and Tengiz Kitovani, but it was soon chaired by Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Communist leader who returned to Tbilisi in March 1992.
In December 1991, Karkarashvili joined the Tengiz Kitovani-led rebellious faction of military in a violent coup against President Zviad Gamsakhurdia and headed a storm of the government’s building which ended in Gamsakhurdia’s flight from Tbilisi in January 1992.