Republicans Call for Cooperation in Majoritarian MP Elections
The opposition Republican Party will nominate majoritarian MP candidates only after consulting with the eight-party opposition coalition, Davit Usupashvili, the party leader, said on March 31.
He said that his party was in favor of nominating agreed opposition candidates in all 75 single-mandate constituencies to prevent a split in the overall opposition vote. The eight-party opposition coalition, as well as the New Rights Party, has also expressed a similar position, but no formal talks have been held on the matter.
Usupashvili said that the party had already selected candidates, mainly for Tbilisi’s single-mandate constituencies: MP Levan Berdzenishvili, MP Ivliane Khaindrava, Tina Khidasheli, Irakli Batiashvili and MP Davit Zurabishvili. He did not, however, say in which constituencies they would run, preferring first to consult with other opposition parties.
It was reported earlier that Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party wanted to run in the Saburtalo district of Tbilisi. It emerged on March 31 that the ruling party wanted to recruit a famous Georgian bass opera singer, Paata Burchuladze, to run under its ticket in the same district. Burchuladze, however, has yet to officially accept the offer.