Lelo/Strong Georgia to Run in October Local Elections, Three Senior Members Dissent
The Strong Georgia coalition, led by the opposition Lelo for Georgia party, announced on July 5 that it will take part in the October 4 local elections, an issue that has been a point of contention among Georgian opposition parties.
“October 4 is to fight against de facto authorities in de facto elections,” Strong Georgia said in its statement. “We are entering the battle. We are entering another resistance against dictatorship and the Russian regime.”
Three members of Lelo’s Political Council, Saba Buadze, Dea Metreveli, and Ana Natsvlishvili, have dissented from the party’s opinion and announced through social media posts that they are stepping down from the governing body, but will remain party members.
While the announcement comes a day after Georgian Dream President Mikheil Kavelashvili said he was ready to pardon currently jailed political leaders if they pledged to run in October elections, Strong Georgia said the announcement was planned before Kavelashvili’s statement, which the coalition said was a political maneuver intended to obstruct their plans.
Two leaders of the coalition, Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze, are among eight persons, including six active political leaders, who are currently in jail after being sentenced to months in prison for defying the summonses of the Tsulukiani Commission, a body in the Georgian Dream’s one-party parliament that is probing alleged crimes by former officials.
“Precisely to get in the way, precisely because [Bidzina] Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream are afraid that the pro-Western opposition will get in this battle, Ivanishvili’s president staged yesterday the masquerade that we saw,” the coalition said. “The only way we have today against Ivanishvili’s Russian-Oligarchic regime is to fight! To fight in every possible direction and on every possible field.”
Eight opposition parties earlier pledged to boycott the elections, which, coming amid Georgian Dream’s growing crackdown on dissent, they described as a “facade.” For Georgia party, led by ex-GD Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, has also repeatedly expressed determination to run in the upcoming local elections, although the party is yet to make an official announcement. Gakharia is currently staying abroad as he is under the Tsulukiani Commission investigation over the Chorchana checkpoint episode.
The Strong Georgia coalition was formed around Lelo ahead of the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections to boost the chances of surpassing the 5% threshold in the first fully proportional vote. It united four political forces, two of which—Freedom Square and Anna Dolidze’s For People—quit the alliance after the elections. The coalition has boycotted the GD parliament formed after the 2024 election.
Note: the news was altered from its original version to reflect the dissentions in the political council.
Also Read:
This post is also available in: ქართული