Reactions to the UNM-Strategy Agmashenebeli Pre-election Deal

On a briefing held on July 20, Levan Khabeishvili, the chairman of the United National Movement, announced a pre-election deal with “Strategy Agmashenebeli’s” leader Giorgi Vashadze, aimed, as he said, “at defeating the Ivanishvili’s Russian party.”

• 21/07/2023 – UNM, Strategy Agmashenebeli Strike Pre-Election Deal

Civil.ge summarized the reactions.

The ruling party: “Union of two losers”

Tea Tsulukiani, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and Sports of Georgia: “As the Georgians say, the dead stick to the dead. Of course, we do not expect any results from this. It is not good for the country. We always say that Georgia really needs new political unions, preferably made up of young people, who will oppose the ruling power on a competent, serious, and above all patriotic basis, and this is how the country will develop”.

Kakha Kaladze, General Secretary of “Georgian Dream,” Tbilisi Mayor: “I think this will not change anything. In general, the opposition today has fundamental problems. I don’t know if these people can’t or don’t want to see what their main problems are, or if they don’t analyze them, but I don’t want to go into those depths. With the union of these two losers, it is clear that nothing can change. It is up to them to decide who will unite with whom and what formula they will present in the elections. For me, as a person living in this country, the most important thing is the future of the citizens of my country, the continuation of the reforms initiated by the “Georgian Dream,” the completion of the projects underway in all regions, villages, and cities of the country.”

Mikheil Sarjveladze, “Georgian Dream”: “Actually, the statement on the creation of the “Victory Platform” is just a marketing idea. They are well aware that the name “Platform of Defeat” would be more appropriate for this union. That they have a real prospect of failure is a fact. This was not a decision made by these two political parties for the good life. Everyone has their problems, and the way to solve them is more, which, unfortunately, they cannot talk about openly, but society sees it. In the case of “Strategy Aghmashenebeli,” the problem is that it has no prospects for the elections to independently gain the support of the public, which ensures its presence in politics. That’s why this political party with the problem of overcoming the barrier decides to rely on someone else, bigger, and in this way to get the “victory.” As for the National Movement […] Khabeishvili may think adding a politician like Vashadze to support his flank could be a good option”.

Irakli Kadagishvili, “Georgian Dream”: “The National Movement is in a deep crisis, leaders like Gotsiridze, Dekanoidze are leaving it, it seems that Melia will finally leave it, and this will seriously weaken this party, in addition to the reputational damage that Saakashvili is doing to it with his indiscretions. They needed to be strengthened with something and strengthened with something by uniting with the other damaged party”.

Giorgi Tsagareishvili, Secretary of the Chairman of “Georgian Dream”: “These two unions will not stand a chance… The Japaridze-Khoshtaria-Vashadze union was recently created somewhere a year ago. This union was neither properly established nor dissolved, before Vashadze left it and laid the foundation for some new union. I do not exclude the possibility that yesterday’s union will also be dissolved. According to our law, blocs are forbidden. Let’s call everything by its name – Mr. Vashadze approached Mr. Saakashvili, fell at his feet, and asked him for three places on the list; he will take these three places and be included in the list of the “National Movement”…”.

Remarks from UNM

Mikheil Saakashvili, former president and founder of the UNM: “I welcome creating a victory platform with very interesting leaders. I especially welcome the principle that the candidacy for all [future] positions should be distributed according to the support of certain people at a certain moment, and the future Prime Minister and Ministers will be determined accordingly… The “government” does not consider […] the peaceful power transfer even in their worst nightmare. Still, they will have to do it, and the sooner they consider this possibility, the better for them and, of course, for the country’s future. I would like to say something about Giorgi Vashadze in particular. He succeeded and was one of the most effective reformers in the first government of the Rose Revolution… Of course, during those years, we argued and did not agree on everything. Still, I appreciate his role as positive in Georgian politics and extremely useful in the new union”.

Tinatin Bokuchava, “United National Movement”: “I think this will be a very important resistance front because unity is the formula for victory… It’s too early to talk about who will be the leader of this union, although the leadership qualities of everyone are very important… Giorgi [Vashadze] has many ideas for building a better Georgia, and I hope that very soon, after the change of government, we will have the opportunity to join forces, let’s implement these plans”.

Remarks from other opposition parties

Irakli Kupradze, General Secretary of “Lelo – for Georgia”: “Such a union is not interesting. Regrouping around the ‘National Movement’ does not serve the order of Georgian society. It is inevitable to create a third alternative center, to which we will invite those pro-Western parties that do not see themselves alongside the National Movement”.

Teona Akubardia, parliamentary group “Reforms Group,” which included Strategy Agmashenebeli: “We have not yet consulted with the group, so we will say more once we have spoken. […] Three MP from our [Khatuna Samnidze, Teona Akubardia, Tariel Nakaidze-eds.] will not cooperate with the National Movement in the form as “Strategy Aghmashenebeli.” “Strategy Aghmashenebeli” went in a completely different direction, and there is no longer any convergence of positions.”

Iago Khvichia, leader of the political union “Girchi”: “Khabe [Levan Khabeishvili] and Vashadze will unite, and everything will be fine?! We do not find this convincing because [they] were united both inside the [National Movement] and outside of it [before], but that brought no significant changes in the social and political life of the country”.

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