New opposition coalition will compete in local elections

A section of the Georgian non-parliamentary opposition has united for the 2014 local self-government elections and named a candidate for the role of Mayor of Tbilisi.

Georgian opposition parties Free Georgia and New Rights merged to create election bloc "Non-parliamentary Opposition” and announced the head of the Free Georgia Party, Kakha Kukava, will run as the Tbilisi Mayoral candidate.

"Our goal is to create a real multi-party system and end the ugly process of cohabitation because of which the United National Movement has artificially and often with the support of the Government, appropriated the title of the main opposition force,” read the statement released today by the new coalition.

"Only non-parliamentary opposition can manage to direct a real and healthy opposition campaign against the Government.

"For the last 20 years Georgian governments are being replaced by their own former officials and the results are clear. Our bloc represents the unity of those political forces, who protested the non-democratic and criminal acts of the United National Movement of the Saakashvili regime from its first day, [which are] the assassination of Sandro Girgvliani on November 7 [and] falsified elections of January 5, etcetera.”

The coalition members also said they would continue consulting with interested political forces to potentially expand the new bloc.