Conservatives, Republicans Form Election Bloc
On September 7 two opposition parties, Conservative and Republican, officially announced the formation of an election coalition to jointly run in the October 5 local self-governance elections.
?We will have our candidates in over 60 municipal regions and cities. We will launch an election campaign in a few days,? Davit Usupashvili, the Republican leader, said at a news conference on September 7.
?We are confident of our success,? he added.
The election bloc was registered in the Central Election Commission under the name ?Davitashvili, Khidasheli, Berdzenishvili? – the last names of Republican and Conservative leaders.
Koba Davitashvili, the Conservative Party leader, will be running for the Tbilisi mayoral race. Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party is the election bloc?s nomination for the Tbilisi City Council ? Sakrebulo -chairperson; and MP Davit Berdzenishvili of the Republican Party will hold an election campaign in Batumi, Adjara Autonomous Republic.
If the bloc members take most of the mandates in the Batumi Sakrebulo, Berdzenishvili will be nominated for the Batumi Mayoral office. The Sakrebulo elects city mayors but, unlike Tbilisi, it is not compulsory in other cities to be a Sakrebulo member to run for the Mayoral office.
Koba Davitashvili was stripped of his MP credentials by Parliament on September 7 upon his request in order to run for office. The law bans MPs from running in local elections.
?For a politician it is more important to quit a post rather than lose the voters? confidence. So I have decided to quit Parliament and run in the local elections,? ex-parliamentarian Koba Davitashvili said at a news conference on September 7.
?Our election bloc will be the people?s bloc,? he added.
A total of six parties and one election bloc will run in the October 5 local elections. The list of parties includes: Labor Party, Georgia?s Way, New Rights, Industrialists, Party of National Ideology and the ruling National Movement party.
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