Ex-PM Gakharia's party member elected Chkhorotsku Municipal Assembly head
Tsurtsumia became the first opposition member to be elected an assembly head.
Photo: Tamar Zantaraia (RFE/RL)
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Former Georgian prime minister Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party member Shota Tsurtsumia has been elected the chairman of Chkhorotsku Municipal Assembly.
In winning the spot, Tsurtsumia has become the first opposition member in the country to be elected an assembly head.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party has 12 members in the newly-elected Chkhorotsku Municipal Assembly, while the opposition United National Movement (UNM), Lelo and For Georgia have a total of 15 members.
Tsurtsumia was elected the head of assembly with 14 votes.
Ruling party MP Sozar Subari said that by electing For Georgia member the head of the assembly, the UNM 'formed a coalition' with Gakharia's party.
We were saying during the whole pre-election campaign that Gakharia's For Georgia party and the UNM were playing a mutual game... A coalition between the For Georgia party and the UNM has now been officially formed, Subari said.
Subari added that he expects the two parties to 'form similar alliances' in other municipalities as well.
In the 2021 municipal elections, the opposition won the majority in assemblies in seven out of 64 municipalities – Batumi, Zugdidi, Martvili, Chkhorotsku, Tsalenjikha, Senaki and Rustavi.
GD garnered 47% of the vote in the proportional part of the race.
Former Georgian prime minister Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party member Korneli Salia has been elected the chairman of Tsalenjikha Municipal Assembly. By electing Salia, Tsalenjikha has become the only municipality in Georgia where both the mayor (UNM's Giorgi Kharchilava) and the head of assembly are from opposition.
The opposition has won the majority in city assemblies in seven out of 64 municipalities – Batumi, Zugdidi, Martvili, Chkhorotsku, Tsalenjikha, Rustavi and Senaki. GD head Irakli Kobakhidze stated that ‘the majority will be formed on the basis of negotiations with the members of the city councils,’ in municipalities where GD lost the majority, noting that ‘work on the issue has already started successfully.’
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City assemblies elected in the October 2021 municipal elections are holding their first sessions across the country today.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with the newly elected mayors from municipalities across Georgia and pledged the support of the central government in the undertaking of various projects.
Ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party MP Mamuka Mdinaradze has responded to a session involving the municipal assembly in the western Georgian town of Senaki on Wednesday, where members from opposition parties gave a go-ahead to the meeting without having a quorum of required members, by calling it “unbelievable”.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has filed a lawsuit against a decision made by the municipal assembly in the western Georgian city of Senaki earlier this month, alleging illegitimacy of the selection of an opposition member by the local council due to absence of quorum.