New city assemblies hold first sessions in Georgia, head of Tbilisi City Assembly elected

City assemblies elected in the October 2021 municipal elections are holding their first sessions across the country today. 

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party failed to win the majority in city assemblies in seven out of 64 municipalities – Batumi, Zugdidi, Martvili, Chkhorotsku, Tsalenjikha, Rustavi and Senaki.

Giorgi Tkemaladze from the GD was re-elected as a head of Tbilisi City Assembly earlier today, where the ruling party was able to form a majority. 

He has been a member of the assembly and taken high posts there since 2007. 

The Lelo for Georgia opposition party says that the decision of the GD not to allow opposition members take high posts in Tbilisi City Assembly ‘is a sign of a poor political culture.’ 

The For Georgia opposition party, which was founded by former PM under the GD Giorgi Gakharia earlier this year, refused to participate in voting at all. 

The party says that in the city assemblies where their votes are decisive for the formation of the majority - Martvili, Rustavi,Zugdidi, Senaki, Chkhorotsku and Tsalenjikha municipalities - For Georgia will nominate its candidates for heads of city assemblies only in Martvili and Rustavi, while in the remaining four city assemblies they will not participate in election procedures. 

Former PM Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party says that they will take steps to ensure balanced political situation in the city assemblies where they have decisive votes for the formation of the majority. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

Earlier, For Georgia proposed trilateral talks with the GD party and the United National Movement (UNM) opposition to compose city assemblies ‘in a balanced manner.’ 

However, For Georgia says none of the parties responded to the offer. 

At the end of the last month, members of the 2017 convocation of city assemblies in Batumi, Zugdidi, Senaki, Martvili and Chkhorotskhu municipalities approved the 2022 municipal budget before the first session of new city assemblies had taken place. 

In four of the five municipalities, the GD no longer had the majority after the October elections. 

This caused opposition protests, which accused the ruling party of taking an ‘illegitimate step’ and ‘disrespecting voters.’ 

The GD responded that they ‘used a legal opportunity’ to ‘prevent complications in terms of municipal budgets by the radical opposition.’