Georgian Dream Names Majoritarian MP Candidates for Shida Kartli Region

During his campaign rally in Gori on July 15, Bidzina Ivanishvili named his coalition Georgian Dream’s majoritarian MP candidates for Shida Kartli region’s four single-mandate constituencies.

A former lawmaker and a wealthy businessman Valery Gelashvili will run in Khashuri. Gelashvili was a member and financial backer of Republican Party, which is now in the Georgian Dream coalition. In July, 2005, when he was a majoritarian MP elected from Khashuri single-mandate constituency, Gelashvili was attacked and brutally beaten by unknown armed men in downtown Tbilisi; he blamed the authorities for that attack; in 2006 he was stripped of his MP credentials.

Davit Onoprishvili of Our Georgia-Free Democrats party will run in Kaspi single-mandate constituency. Onoprishvili was Georgia’s finance minister in 1998-2000 and head of the state-owned Georgian Railway in 2004-2005.

Leri Khabelov of Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party will run in Kareli. 1992 Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling, Khabelov is a former vice-president of Georgian National Olympic Committee.

Soso Vakhtangashvili of National Forum will run in Gori single-mandate constituency.

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