Freedom Party Slams Opposition Coalition
Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, leader of Freedom Party, criticized the opposition coalition and said he “can no longer imagine cooperation” with the bloc.
He told Rustavi 2 TV on July 12 that “backstage bargaining of some opposition parties” from the coalition with the authorities had resulted in a failure to change the political landscape in the country. “Today Saakashvili’s rule is as strong as ever,” Gamsakhurdia said.
Gamsakhurdia, like the other 11 leaders of the coalition, has renounced his MP mandates and refused to enter Parliament. Gamsakhurdia, however, signaled in mid-June that his party might quit the coalition. His complaints were believed to be mainly related to the increasing role of the New Rights Party within the coalition.
Kakha Kukava of the Conservative Party – part of the coalition – said Gamsakhurdia’s claims that some parties within the coalition had made “backstage bargains” with the authorities were “a provocative allegation, which aims at discrediting the opposition and demoralizing opposition supporters and boosting pseudo-opposition parties, which have emerged recently.”
Politicians from the opposition coalition have labeled parties and politicians as “pseudo-opposition” which have decided to join the new Parliament.
There are currently six parties united in the coalition – not counting the Freedom Party, which will probably formally quit the bloc soon: New Rights Party; Conservative Party; Georgia’s Way; Party of People; Movement for United Georgia and National Forum.
