Ruling party head claims ex-PM Gakharia asked for money in exchange to not run for Tbilisi mayor
GD head Irakli Kobakhidze (L) stated earlier that former PM Giorgi Gakharia was allied with the United National Movement opposition while in office.
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The head of the ruling Georgian Dream party (GD) Irakli Kobakhidze says that former PM Giorgi Gakharia, who was nominated for Tbilisi mayor yesterday by his For Georgia political party, ‘has made an attempt with the use of a mediator to receive financial support from us for his refusal to run for Tbilisi mayor.’
Of course we dismissed the offer. Our candidate for Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze told him that he would win the race in the first round of elections,” Kobakhidze said.
Kaladze says that Gakharia has phoned him several times and requested a meeting with him.
Gakharia told me that he was ready to meet with me anyplace I would choose. We met at the Tbilisi City Hall office and he just told me that he had plans to run for Tbilisi mayor and that he did not want me to learn about it on TV,” Kaladze said.
Gakharia has responded that what Kobakhidze said on money is ‘a lie’ and that the GD leadership is ‘doing their utmost to discredit’ him and his party.
Gakharia resigned back in February 2021 because of controversies with the ruling party on the arrest of the head of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party Nika Melia.
In May he founded the For Georgia political party.
GD party members and the founder of the party Bidzina Ivanishvili have called Gakharia a ‘traitor.’
Now ruling party members say that through running for Tbilisi mayor Gakharia is trying to help Melia win the race.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has announced his resignation earlier today, saying that the step is connected with the upcoming arrest of the opposition MP, the head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia. Gakharia has stated that Melia violated the law and has been engaged in sparking tension in the country.
Former Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, who now leads the For Georgia opposition party, has announced today his plans of running for Tbilisi mayor. Gakharia said that three months after the establishment of the For Georgia party it has been the one and the only political party with an increasing rating in Georgia.
Georgian Dream ruling party has officially named Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi, as its candidate for a second term in the position, ahead of the municipal elections set to be held in October.
Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, who now chairs the For Georgia political union, said at the party’s launch presentation earlier today that ‘we unite for Georgia, but not against anybody’. Stating that his team will be actively involved in political processes, Gakharia said Georgia now needs a political party which can ‘look the truth in the eyes’ and speak up about the challenges the country is facing nowadays, instead of living in illusions.
Former Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor in the upcoming October 2 self-government elections, has accused local TV channel Imedi of political bias and demands to be aired live. Giorgi Gakharia resigned from the post of PM on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and soon after in late May launched the For Georgia political party. The GD accused Gakharia of planning an alleged coup together with the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, noting that his resignation ’was profitable for the UNM.’
Local TV channel Imedi has responded to former Georgian PM and Tbilisi mayor candidate Giorgi Gakharia’s accusations that the channel has political bias and has thus refused to air him live in the run up to the October 2 municipal elections. Imedi pointed out an alleged connection between the current opposition United National Movement (UNM) party which governed the country from 2004 to 2012 and Giorgi Gakharia who left the post of PM on February 18, 2021 due to a disagreement with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and launched the For Georgia political party in late May.