New Member in GD Commission Investigating UNM

The Georgian Dream parliament’s temporary investigative commission, probing alleged crimes committed by, but not limited to, former United National Movement government officials, has been joined by a new member, Irakli Kadagishvili, replacing Paata Salia, who was appointed GD justice minister in early April, for which his seat on the commission was suspended.

Irakli Kadagishvili, 62, has been a GD member of the tenth (Chair of the parliamentary Procedural Issues Committee in 2021-2024) and eleventh convocations of the Georgian Parliament. In 1992, he was a member of the third convocation of the Georgian Parliament from the National Democratic Party.

Commission Chair Tea Tsulukiani, once GD’s longest-serving minister, praised Irakli Kadagishvili as a “very great asset” to the commission. “I am happy that now, within the framework of this commission, we will work together to achieve those political goals of the Georgian Dream that the Georgian parliament had assigned to us,” she said.

The GD commission was initially mandated to investigate alleged systemic crimes committed under the previous UNM government from 2003-2012, but its terms were later expanded to cover events up to the present. The GD has said it will use the commission’s final report, which it will submit to the constitutional court, to ban what it calls the “collective UNM,” which includes all major pro-European opposition parties. Citing the extension of the commission’s mandate, the GD said the drafting of the final report would take more time and that the banning of the opposition, which had been planned to take place before the local elections scheduled for October, would instead come “very soon” after the polls.

The GD commission has already summoned several opposition figures, including Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze of Lelo, Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Nika Gvaramia and Nika Melia of the Coalition for Change, and Giorgi Vashadze of Unity-UNM, as well as a former MP under UNM, Givi Targamadze and former Defense Minister under UNM, Irakli Okruashvili, all of whom have refused to appear as they consider the one-party parliament formed as a result of the disputed 2024 elections illegitimate.

Their refusal to comply with the commission’s request, which is a criminal offense, resulted in court decisions to bail them for amounts ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 GEL each. The only opposition figure to appear before the commission was Giorgi Gakharia, the former GD Interior Minister and Prime Minister, who was questioned about several issues during his time in the ruling party, including the infamous brutal dispersal of the June 20, 2019, protest.

The commission typically hears from people who testify about alleged business racketeering, torture and other alleged crimes of which they say they were victims under the previous government.

It has also revived the issue of the August 2008 war, with apparent attempts to shift the blame for starting the war to the former Georgian government and then-President Mikheil Saakashvili. The controversial hearings on the Russia-Georgia war, in which army generals Zaza Gogava and Mamuka Kurashvili were called to testify, were accompanied by widespread public outcry.

Also Read:

• 11/03/2025 – GD Amends Rules to Let Commission Investigating UNM Request Probe at Any Stage
• 14/02/2025 – Tea Tsulukiani to Chair Parliamentary Commission Investigating UNM Government
• 07/02/2025 – GD Parliament Staffs Commission to Investigate UNM, Threatens Criminal Liability for Refusal to Cooperate

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