2 non-parliamentary opposition parties nominate joint mayoral candidate

Two non-parliamentary opposition parties – Democratic Movement and Free Georgia – have named a joint candidate for Tbilisi Mayor for the municipal elections this October.

Their candidate will be Kakha Kukava, leader of Free Georgia.

He was introduced by ex-Parliament Speaker and head of the Democratic Movement party Nino Burjanadze today.

The two parties named a joint candidate for Head of Tbilisi City Council too. It’s Dimitri Lortkipanidze – former Member of Parliament, who 2014 he competed to become Tbilisi Mayor and ranked third. He was a candidate to become Georgia’s Public Defender but his candidacy wasn’t approved in 2012.

As for Kukava, in 2010 he was elected a member of Tbilisi City Assembly, where he periodically performed the Chairman duties of the faction. In 2004 he was elected as a Member of Parliament but he soon quit the Parliamentary majority in protest against policies by then-President Mikhail Saakashvili. Since 2001, the married father of two has been involved in the private practice of law. He ran for Tbilisi Mayor in the previous elections too and gained 2.32 percent of total votes.

Together with Kukava, six other candidates from different parties have already been named to compete in the October elections. They are:

• Kakha Kaladze from the ruling Georgian Dream party
• Zaal Udumashvili from the United National Movement
• Elene Khoshataria from the European Georgia
• Aleksandre Elisashvili, an independent candidate
• Tengiz Shergelashvili from the Movement of Building
• Irma Inashvili from the Alliance of Patriots