Paper: Opposition Parties in Search of Forms for Cooperation

Consultations are underway among the opposition parties over forms of cooperation on the eve of the local self-governance elections scheduled for this autumn, the Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) reported on February 16.

But, according to the paper, there are certain disagreements about the forms of cooperation. “Labor Party advocates are boycotting the elections, while the New Rights and Conservatives are against this idea; the Republican Party considers [ex-Foreign Minister] Salome Zourabichvili as a leading figure if the opposition manages to unite, while the Industrialists claim that cooperation should be based solely on the parity principle,” the Rezonansi writes.

The paper quoted leader of the Republican Party Davit Usupashvili, who says that the necessity for close cooperation was triggered by the amendments to the election code which introduced a first-past-the-post “winner takes all” system in the local elections.

“The Republican Party does not rule out the possibility that we will unite our forces with other parties during the elections, but it is too early to specify with which parties. Our major partners are the Conservatives. We also have good relations with the Labor Party. I do not think that we will be opponents,” Davit Usupashvili said.

Salome Zourabichvili, who has just recently formed a political party, confirmed that she is engaged in “informal consultations” with other opposition parties. “Of course [the formation of a] coalition is not ruled out… but for me the most important thing is that unification should be based on policy and platforms and not on desire to occupy seats [in the legislative body],” Zourabichvili was quoted by Rezonansi.