Tbilisi City Assembly UNM opposition members call for termination of party Chair position before elections
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Six members of the United National Movement opposition party in Tbilisi City Assembly on Friday called for termination of the position of the Chair of the group before next year’s “crucial” parliamentary elections and proposed establishment of a temporary governing body based on “parity”.
The statement came on the heels of Chair Levan Khabeishvili’s decision on Friday to expand the party’s Political Council with 20 new members as offered by Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former President and UNM founder, amid calls for the former’s resignation by UNM’s current and former members and growing discontent over the intra-party governing body.
In their latest calls, the UNM faction members in the Assembly claimed the current party management had demonstrated a lack of focus on party unity and democratic political system since its election in January and February and accused it of fostering dissent within the party.
The controversy stems from the formation of the Political Council following the Chair’s election in late January, with the six members claiming the decision, coupled with actions and rhetoric of the management and Khabeishvili, had resulted in a “prolonged crisis”. The members asserted the crisis would persist and deepen if not resolved.
They also said reducing the cause of the crisis to membership in the Council meant avoiding the problem rather than addressing it, with the members adding UNM “deserved” more than its current offerings to voters and the public.
The statement also warned against the “misconception” that “expelling one individual, such as Nika Melia [the former Chair], or a few others from the party” would only affect the members in question, with the statement claiming the move would leave “hundreds of party members and thousands of supporters” beyond the faction.
Khabeishvili on Monday signed a paper during live broadcasting while claiming Melia “no longer represents” the faction, but refrained from using the term “expulsion” in an ongoing controversy over the matter.
Khabeishvili, who has been accused by Melia of being a “puppet” of former UNM officials including Vano Merabishvili and David Kezerashvili, also said he could provide “written, legal evidence” Melia was no longer a party member, but added if the former Chair “changed his wording and stance” he could be accepted in the party again.
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.
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.
Nika Melia, the former Chair of the United National Movement, the largest party in the domestic Georgian opposition, on Monday refused to become involved in a potential new board of the party and related talks, citing “informal influence” of David Kezerashvili, the wanted former Defence Minister of Georgia, and Vano Merabishvili, the former Interior Minister under the UNM Government, over party affairs.
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.
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.
Khatuna Samnidze, an MP from the Republican opposition party, on Monday said the departure of nine members from the United National Movement party earlier during the day was a symptom of an “inevitable split” caused by a “profound crisis” in the largest opposition group.
Nika Melia, the former Chair of the opposition United National Movement party, on Thursday said he was leaving the ranks of the largest opposition party in Georgia amid the ongoing intra-party feud.
Members of the United National Movement, the largest opposition party in Georgia, continued to leave the group this week amid internal controversies, expressing their commitment to join a new platform initiated by the party’s former Chair Nika Melia.