Members of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s opposition For Georgia party say their parliamentary boycott continues, dismissing a pro–Georgian Dream TV Imedi report that they are preparing to take MP seats.
TV Imedi reported on September 9 that eight of twelve new members of Gakharia’s party – whose MP credentials were recently approved by the Georgian Dream parliament – have appealed to Speaker Shalva Papuashvili with letters asking him to “act in line with the procedure prescribed by law,” and submitted documents showing they had “suspended the work incompatible with the MP status.” The channel said, “As it turns out, Gakharia’s party is ending its boycott.”
“Nothing has changed in our positioning regarding the legitimacy of this parliament,” Berdia Sichinava, the For Georgia secretary general, wrote on social media, noting that the party’s first twelve members – whose mandates were terminated at the end of the spring session due to their continued absence from the legislature – “had gone through exactly the same procedure […] so the mandates would not be lost.” He added: “Don’t fall for Imedi’s false propaganda.”
Party member Giorgi Sharashidze further explained that of the twelve members whose mandates were approved, eight have served as municipal council members and were required to give up those positions. He told Interpressnews that Georgian Dream is trying to frame a “procedural issue” in a “propagandistic” way, adding that For Georgia continues its “political boycott” of the one-party parliament.
The controversy follows the GD parliament’s approval of Gakharia’s next twelve mandates, and remarks by Gakharia, who has been in Germany since June while facing two criminal prosecutions in Georgia, that the boycott was a “mistake,” suggesting the party may revisit its strategy once plenary sessions resume after the October 4 local elections. Days after Gakharia questioned the boycott, key member Teona Akubardia quit the party.
Gakharia’s For Georgia party was the only one of four opposition groups that cleared the five-percent threshold in the disputed 2024 elections, not to revoke its mandates, instead keeping the seats while boycotting parliamentary work. The other three renounced their mandates, leaving no way back to the legislature.
Gakharia’s party, together with the Lelo–Strong Georgia alliance, is contesting the October 4 local elections, while other opposition groups are boycotting the vote amid ongoing protests and state repression.
Also Read:
- 18/08/2025 – Lelo/Strong Georgia, Gakharia’s For Georgia Name Irakli Kupradze as Joint Tbilisi Mayoral Candidate
- 26/08/2025 – Georgian Dream, Lelo/Gakharia’s Tbilisi Majoritarian Candidates for October 4 Local Vote
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