A former leader of the opposition Conservative Party and ex-lawmaker Koba Davitashvili said on March 12 that he has set up a new political party called the People?s Party.
He said that the top priority of the People?s Party will be to achieve the adoption of a law by autumn 2008 that will help people who had bank accounts in the Soviet period and consequently lost them after the break up of the Soviet Union.
Davitashvili, who was a close ally of Saakashvili before 2004 when he broke with the National Movement party, has become one of the most popular opposition leaders in Georgia. But his reputation suffered a painful blow when television stations aired hidden video footage in October that showed someone giving Davitashvili money reportedly in exchange for being put on the party-list ahead of local elections.
Davitashvili said that the USD 20 000 that he received was a campaign donation and denied that the money was meant to include the sponsor in the party-list. However, he stepped down from the chairmanship of the Conservative Party after this video tape was aired.
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