Georgian Dream Picks Kakha Kaladze to Seek Third Term as Tbilisi Mayor
The ruling Georgian Dream party will nominate incumbent Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze to seek a third term in the upcoming local elections, slated for October 4, which many opposition parties are boycotting in protest.
A Georgian Dream Facebook page post confirmed Kaladze’s nomination, set to take place on July 31.
Kaladze, a football veteran and Georgian Dream secretary general, has served as the capital’s mayor since 2017. If reelected for the third time in what is expected to be a highly uneven contest for the opposition, he would retain the post until 2029. He joined Georgian Dream in 2011 and served as energy minister from 2012-2017 before becoming the Tbilisi Mayor.
Kaladze’s nomination as Georgian Dream’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor came amid speculations of internal party tensions, including claims that the party’s patron, Bidzina Ivanishvili, had demanded Kaladze return about USD 800,000 allegedly received as “black money” from the state budget.
Kaladze has often faced high-level corruption allegations and public backlash over what critics see as the city authorities’ negligence in preventing tragic incidents they believe could have been avoided.
A week before Kakha Kaladze’s nomination, dozens of families were forcibly evicted from Tbilisi’s Africa Settlement in a dramatic enforcement operation, during which 17 people were arrested. City Hall said the buildings were unsafe, privately owned, and illegally occupied. The previous week, a roof overhang collapsed at Tbilisi’s Station Square outdoor market, killing two people. Authorities faced backlash for neglecting the structure, which had reportedly posed a danger to both residents and passersby for at least a year. Such cases have temporarily revived anger among Tbilisites toward Mayor Kakha Kaladze.
Delayed Campaign
With nearly two months until the vote, parties, especially in the opposition, are not rushing to campaign. Nine opposition groups have pledged to boycott the upcoming vote, arguing that participation would only help Georgian Dream legitimize its hold on power. They see non-cooperation as the only viable way to resist the party, which has ruled since 2012 and, following the 2024 parliamentary elections, has abandoned the country’s EU path and intensified its crackdown on dissent.
Two major forces, however, Lelo/Strong Georgia, whose two leaders are among eight jailed for defying the Georgian Dream parliamentary commission, and For Georgia, led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who is currently abroad as prosecutors pursue two separate investigations against him, are participating, viewing the elections as another battlefield to challenge Georgian Dream.
Lelo and For Georgia signed a memorandum of cooperation on July 14 ahead of the elections, pledging to try to agree on joint mayoral candidates. Some pro-government media have speculated that Aleko Elisashvili, leader of the Citizens party, which is allied with Lelo, will be their common candidate for Tbilisi mayor, though neither party has confirmed this, and no official nomination has been made yet. Elisashvili was one of Kaladze’s main rivals in the 2017 Tbilisi mayoral race.
While most of the opposition refuses to participate, GD-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili on July 4 openly offered to pardon jailed opposition leaders, sentenced to seven to eight months for boycotting the Tsulukiani Commission, if they agreed to take part in the local elections. None of the detained leaders, however, accepted the offer.
Georgian Dream says it eyes all cities and municipalities across the country in the upcoming elections. In the 2021 local elections, only the western Georgian town of Tsalenjikha elected an opposition candidate from the United National Movement.
Also Read:
- 24/07/2025 – Anna Dolidze Says Her For People Party Won’t Run in Local Elections
- 08/07/2025 – ODIHR Regrets GD Government’s ‘Stated Intention’ Not to Invite Monitoring Mission
- 17/06/2025 – Treason or Opportunity – Opposition Squabbles over Municipal Elections
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