Opposition leaders reject politician Gigi Ugulava's initiative to unite "under UNM umbrella"

Georgian opposition leaders have rejected politician Gigi Ugulava's initiative to unite various opposition parties "under the United National Movement (UNM) umbrella" in order to compete with the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party.

Former UNM official himself, Ugulava said the unification would attract more voters.

Now is the time for political leaders and parties to seek common ground in order to create a bigger coalition, Ugulava added.

UNM member Roman Gotsiridze emphasized that Ugulava had expressed his personal opinion, while the party had not discussed the possible unification.

Parliament Vice Speaker and Citizens opposition party member Levan Ioseliani said he did not take Ugulava's idea seriously.

The opposition is very diverse, and reaching an agreement  within the opposition has often proved difficult. In my opinion, this difficulty lies in the fact that the UNM has a hard time cooperating with the opposition members of different opinions and political tastes, Ioseliani explained.

Girchi opposition party MP Iago Khvichia said his party would not unite "under the UNM umbrella" as their ideas would "not be compatible."

Khvichia further noted that he thought Ugulava did not have Girchi in mind while discussing the unification.

They [UNM] don't love us [Girchi] as we are not easy people to work with. They know we often ask questions, and then it does not go as planned, Khvichia added.

Leader of European Georgia opposition party Giga Bokeria dismissed Ugulava's initiative as "absurd."

A political union should be based on values, visions. Any other union is either doomed for failure or will bring failure and catastrophe to this country, Bokeria said.

Strategy Aghmashenebeli leader, MP Giorgi Vashadze pointed out that an attempt to unite the opposition around the UNM had failed in the past.

The only umbrella under which I'll stand is Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Vashadze noted.

Tbilisi Mayor and GD Secretary General Kakha Kaladze said the opposition had learned from previous collaborations that the UNM is trying to "enslave" the other opposition parties.