Imedi TV responds to accusations of former PM, Tbilisi mayoral candidate, refuses to give his campaign airtime
Imedi also touched upon the topic of the upcoming elections and stated that Gakharia ‘has no chance of winning and he knows it perfectly well.’ Photo: Netgazeti.ge.
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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.
The TV channel’s statement reads that the UNM before 2012 ‘controlled all major media organisations,’ noting that it ‘raided and expropriated TV channel Imedi.’
Our channel will not operate on the basis of the demands of the UNM and politicians openly or secretly affiliated with them,” Imedi stated.
Gakharia said that the TV channel does not cover his political party’s activities, noting that the GD ‘is forcing Imedi to feed their audience with one-sided information.’
TV channel Imedi was founded by deceased tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili in the early 2000s and was raided by police in 2007 under the UNM-led government.
Imedi also touched upon the topic of the upcoming elections and stated that Gakharia ‘has no chance of winning and he knows it perfectly well.’
This means that his (Gakharia’s) involvement is aimed at demolishing the existing balance of the race for mayor, in favour of the leader of the UNM (Nika Melia),” the statement reads.
Based on Edison Research polls both GD Tbilisi mayor candidate and incumbent Kakha Kaladze and For Georgia’s Giorgi Gakharia are liked by 55 per cent of voters while the joint candidate of four opposition parties Nika Melia is supported by 45 per cent of respondents.