Opposition MP: expulsion of UNM party members from party “big problem”
Dekanoidze also claimed the party would only be “saved from splitting” if the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the UNM founder, abolished the position of its Chair. Photo: UNM
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Khatia Dekanoidze, an opposition MP who earlier this year left the opposition United National Movement party, on Friday commented on an ongoing intra-party controversy between different camps of the faction by saying the prospect of expulsion of members was a “big problem” for the group and “echoed” Communist Party practices from the past.
Dekanoidze was making the comment in reference to the question of whether Nika Melia, the party’s former Chair, would sign a new manifesto of the party.
I left this party because of specific problems that have not gone anywhere [since]. In the light of those problems, I never imagined that there would be unity [within the group]”, she said.
Dekanoidze also claimed the party would only be “saved from splitting” if the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the UNM founder, abolished the position of its Chair.
The politician’s comment came after Levan Bezhashvili, the Chair of the Political Council of the UNM, on Thursday said if Melia did not sign the manifesto, he could “not be a member” of the party, and accused him of being the “main actor” of an alleged “campaign” against UNM.
Bacho Dolidze, a UNM member who is in Melia’s camp, said the party’s manifesto served to “expel specific persons” from the faction.
Nugzar Tsiklauri, a member of the United National Movement opposition party, on Wednesday accused Vano Merabishvili, the former Interior Minister from the party during its time in Government, of ongoing “shadowy interference” in developments in the UNM and domestic politics in general.
Bacho Dolidze, a member of the United National Movement - the largest opposition party in Georgia - on Tuesday said the former Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili could be behind the recent release of illegal audio recording involving the party’s incumbent Chair Nika Melia.
Nika Melia, the incumbent Chair of United National Movement, the largest opposition party in Georgia, on Monday lost the race for the position to Levan Khabeishvili, in an election that followed intra-party controversies over the recent weeks.
Khatia Dekanoidze, one of the leaders of the United National Movement opposition party, on Friday cited its “unjustifiable” governance with an “old paradigm” as the basis for her decision to leave the party.
Levan Khabeishvili, the Chair of United National Movement, the largest party in the domestic Georgian opposition, on Monday signed a paper during live broadcasting while claiming Nika Melia, the party’s former Chairperson, “no longer represents” the faction, but refrained from using the term “expulsion” in an ongoing controversy over the matter.
Nine members of the United National Movement opposition in the country’s western city of Batumi on Monday announced their exit from the faction, citing “irreconcilable differences” and an alleged lack of prospects for unity under the current management.