The Georgian Dream Parliament recognized the MP mandates of twelve new members of ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party, two months after the mandates of the initial twelve MP candidates on the party’s proportional list were terminated over their repeated absence amid opposition boycott.
The former prime minister’s party, one of four opposition groups to clear the 5 percent threshold in the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections, joined the opposition’s boycott of the one-party legislature but, unlike the other three alliances, stopped short of formally renouncing its mandates. Now, Gakharia’s latest remarks, calling the parliamentary boycott a “mistake,” suggest the party may revise the boycott strategy after the October 4 municipal vote.
“I tell you honestly today that I consider not using the parliamentary mandates to be a mistake. We have a small resource left to correct this mistake; we can use it, or if we cannot, this will directly depend on the political environment that will be created in the country after the municipal elections,” Gakharia, currently in exile as he faces two separate probes over his 2019 tenure as interior minister, said during his remote TV Pirveli interview on September 1.
The one-party parliament reconvened for the fall plenary session on September 2, recognizing the mandates of twelve For Georgia lawmakers – Gela Abuladze, Jemal Ananidze, Ketevan Bakaradze, Rusudan Tevzadze, Malkhaz Toria, Shalva Kereselidze, Salome Kobaladze, Giga Parulava, Vika Pilpani, Giorgi Sharashidze, Tamar Khvedeliani, and Sopio Khorguani.
Several of the twelve newly-recognized MPs are also running in the upcoming municipal elections on the joint Lelo/Strong Georgia–For Georgia ticket, among them are: Giorgi Sharashidze (candidate for the City Council’s chair), Rusudan Tevzadze (Chughureti), Vika Pilpani and Sopio Khorguani (Isani), and Salome Kobaladze (Saburtalo). Both parties have nominated Lelo Secretary General Irakli Kupradze as their joint Tbilisi mayoral candidate.
The GD Parliament had earlier, in February, terminated 49 mandates from other opposition forces, including the Coalition for Change, Unity–UNM, and Strong Georgia blocs, after they renounced their seats, claiming the October 2024 elections were rigged. In For Georgia’s case, however, the annulments came without a formal request from the party.
Gakharia has also diverged from other opposition leaders in his dealings with the contested legislature. While many refused to cooperate with the Tsulukiani Commission that probed alleged UNM-era crimes, he testified twice – in April in person, and remotely from Germany on July 2.
Gakharia also addressed speculation over his continued stay in Germany, clarifying that he holds a “long-term visa” and is not seeking “political asylum.” He said the visa allows him to work on issues “directly connected to Georgia,” the country’s European future, and “expert activities [of Georgia’s] European integration and EU enlargement, especially in the Eastern European direction.”
He emphasized that he does not plan to return to Tbilisi in the near future, arguing that while Georgian Dream “does not have the resources” to imprison him despite the two cases launched against him, the government could restrict his political activity, mobility, and right to leave the country if he returned.
Gakharia stressed that for now his party is focused on the municipal vote, which he called “crucial for all citizens” and for the “country’s future.”
The October 4 local elections are set to be held amid boycotts by eight opposition parties, including some that cleared the 5% threshold in last year’s vote, and against a backdrop of arrests of political leaders, ongoing repression, and the absence of international and key domestic observers.
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